What Paonia Wells Cost, Produce, and Require

How deep are wells around Paonia?

How much water do wells make near Paonia?

Paonia well depths and the ground below

Paonia’s reported well depth is shallow compared with many Colorado mountain and basin areas. The median is 67 feet, and the middle half runs from 36 to 138 feet. Sixty-three percent of the wells with depth records are under 100 feet, while 34% fall between 100 and 300 feet. The 90th percentile is 212 feet, and the deepest record reaches 640 feet.

For a driller’s bid, that spread matters more than the median alone. A lot near shallow alluvium may be straightforward, while a nearby fractured-bedrock site can require substantially more footage. The permits identify 665 wells in unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifers, compared with 5 alluvial wells and 2 Mesa Verde Group wells. Have the driller review neighboring completions before choosing a target depth.

How much water a Paonia well may produce

Reported yields are strong overall: the median is 15.0 gallons per minute, with the middle half between 10.0 and 15.0 gallons per minute. Of the wells that report a pump yield, 54% produce more than 15 gallons per minute, 32% produce between 5 and 15, and 14% produce between 1 and 5.

No reported well in this dataset falls under 1 gallon per minute, but that does not remove the risk of a low-yield result on an untested parcel. Yield records are available for only 94 wells, and a pumping rate is not the same as dependable long-term storage. Ask for the well test, static level, pumping level, recovery information, and permitted use. A household system also needs appropriate pump, tank, and pressure equipment.

Paonia water levels and the decade pattern

The median static water level is 20 feet below the surface, with the middle half from 12 to 66 feet. That is useful for estimating pump placement and trench work, but water levels can vary by location, season, construction, and measurement method.

The decade series does not show a simple steady decline. Median depth to water was 11 feet in the 2000s, 48 feet in the 2010s, and 35 feet in the 2020s. The later measurements remain deeper than the 2000s figure, but the 2020s median is shallower than the 2010s median. Treat this as a reason to check current neighboring measurements, not proof that the regional water table is either falling or recovering. A driller should confirm static and pumping levels at the proposed site.

Who has drilled near Paonia, and when

Permit activity has continued through the present record, with the newest permit year listed as 2025. The largest decade was the 2000s, with 209 permits. The 1990s had 99, while the 2010s and 2020s each had 80. Earlier records include 8 permits in the 1960s, 38 in the 1970s, and 24 in the 1980s.

The most active names in the records are Wildcat Drilling & Pump, Inc. (Kissner, Billy D.) with 68 wells, Bill Kissner Drilling Inc (Kissner, Bill F.) with 58, and Wildcat Drilling And Pump (Mcpherson, Brian) with 54. These names help identify local experience, but older permit history is not a substitute for a current site review. Confirm licensing, scope, testing, casing, grout, pump work, and who handles the permit before signing.

What a new Paonia well may cost

For Paonia’s mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground, the cost model uses a typical drilling rate of $50 to $75 per foot. At the local median depth of 67 feet, the drilled hole is estimated at about $3,400 to $5,000. That is only the drilling portion, not a complete operating water system.

A finished well with pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is estimated at $9,400 to $17,000 at the median depth. The actual bid can move outside that range when the hole must go deeper, access is difficult, casing or grout requirements change, or electrical and trench distances increase. Get the contractor to separate footage, casing, grout, development, testing, pump equipment, trenching, electrical, and permit-related work.

Paonia risks to check before you buy or build

Water quantity is only one part of due diligence. The mapped area within about 10 miles includes 4 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 42 historic mine features, and 1 EPA Superfund or cleanup site. Those mapped sites do not automatically mean a particular well is contaminated, but they support testing for site-appropriate contaminants and reviewing nearby land uses, mine history, and prior sampling.

Ask for a certified water test and check construction records for casing, grout, and well location. Confirm that the permit allows the intended household, stock, or irrigation use. Septic setbacks, soil conditions, driveway access, building location, and trench routes can determine whether a seemingly shallow well is practical. In an over-appropriated basin, an augmentation plan may be needed for some uses, so verify water rights with Colorado DWR before building.

Buying land around Paonia: a practical next step

Before closing, collect permits and completion records for the closest neighboring wells, not just averages from Paonia, Hotchkiss, or Somerset. Compare depth, reported yield, static water level, aquifer description, use, and drilling year. The local records are mostly domestic or household wells at 68%, with stock wells at 11%, irrigation at 2%, and monitoring wells at 18%. That mix helps explain the dataset but does not establish your legal water supply.

For a vacant lot, make the well location and drilling plan part of the feasibility review. Have a licensed driller inspect access and estimate a realistic depth range, then coordinate septic and house placement around setbacks and drainage. For an existing home, verify the permit, pump performance, storage, electrical system, recent water quality, and any shared-well agreement. A short records review before purchase can expose a low-yield, contamination, access, or permitting problem early.

Well permits by decade near Paonia

What a new well costs in Paonia, CO

How this is built: the median permitted depth here times the per-foot range for this ground, plus the normal system costs. A lot at the 75th-percentile depth (138 ft) would run roughly $12,900–$22,350. See the full Colorado well cost guide.

Environmental sites mapped within about 10 miles

Counts come from EPA, USGS and state datasets layered on the Colorado Well Finder map. A count is not a verdict on any one well; it tells you what to test for.

Buying land near Paonia? Know what it costs to build before you buy the dirt.

A listing photo can't tell you whether a lot is a dream or a money pit. Two parcels near Paonia can carry the same asking price while one needs an $80,000 driveway and a $45,000 engineered septic the other doesn't. The well numbers on this page are the start of that answer. A Tri-Lakes Site Feasibility Report is the rest of it: a licensed general contractor, excavator and septic installer reads the parcel the way we would if we were about to build on it, and puts the real cost in writing before your money is committed.

Spend a little to know. Or gamble a lot to guess. Realtors sell the view and inspectors look at houses that already exist. We're the people who'd build it, so we catch what quietly turns a "great deal" into a budget disaster: bad access, buried rock, steep grade, soil that won't pass for a normal septic, water that's a fortune to reach. And if the lot is good, you've already got a builder ready to do the work, driveway to drywall.

• Instant Online Report, $99 — type the address and get a buildability read on the spot: parcel, terrain and slope, soil and septic outlook. Cheap enough to run on every lot you're shopping.
• Desktop Report, $500 — a contractor's from-the-desk feasibility read: Regulation 43 and county code, GIS parcel data, terrain, flood and drainage, soil and septic viability, setbacks and buildable envelope, nearby well depths from our 591,000-well database, the likely driveway route, and a preliminary site-development cost breakdown.
• On-Site Report, $2,000 — everything above, then boots and a drone on the actual ground: house pad and septic zone located, access and winter conditions checked, rock and soil observed in person, a 15 to 20 page written opinion you can hand a lender or seller. Credited toward your project if you build with us.

Under contract, comparing parcels, or a realtor with a rural listing whose buyers keep asking "what will it cost to build here?" This is the due-diligence step almost everyone skips, and the one that saves the most.

Common questions about wells in Paonia

Keep researching

More in Delta County

All wells in Delta County — county-wide depth, yield and cost figures.

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