What Parachute Well Records Show Buyers

How deep are wells around Parachute?

How much water do wells make near Parachute?

Parachute well depth depends on the local formation

Parachute wells have a median depth of 120 feet. The middle half runs from 50 to 174 feet, while the 90th-percentile depth is 213 feet. The deepest recorded well is 390 feet.

Depths are split fairly evenly between shallow and moderate drilling: 46% are under 100 feet, and 52% fall from 100 to 300 feet. Only 2% are from 300 to 600 feet, with none recorded at 600 feet or deeper. Most permits identify an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer, while 7 are alluvial and 27 name the Wasatch-Fort Union. That mix matters because fractured rock can change sharply over short distances. Ask for a bid with a realistic depth range, not a promise based only on the median.

Reported well yields near Parachute are usually workable

The median reported yield is 15.0 gallons per minute, with the middle half between 10.0 and 15.0 gallons per minute. In the available yield records, 51% produce more than 15 gallons per minute and 43% produce from 5 to 15 gallons per minute.

Low-producing wells are present but uncommon in this dataset: 5% report 1 to 5 gallons per minute and 1% report under 1 gallon per minute. Yield is not the same as storage in the well or guaranteed household supply. A pump test, recovery information, storage tank sizing, and the permitted use all deserve review. Domestic and household wells make up 51% of the use mix, while monitoring wells account for 29%, so not every nearby record is a direct comparison to a home well.

Water levels in Parachute records need a closer look

The median static water level is 57 feet below the surface, with the middle half from 29 to 90 feet. That gives a useful first estimate for pump setting and trench planning, but the number varies by location, season, construction, and measurement date.

The decade figures show a deeper reported median in the 2020s than in the 2000s: 57 feet below surface compared with 22 feet. That pattern suggests water was measured farther below ground in the newer decade, but it does not prove a basin-wide decline. The records are limited to 35 reported static water levels and may not compare the same wells. Before buying, check the original well construction reports and ask whether a current water-level measurement is available for the specific property.

Permit history shows long use and current drilling activity

Garfield County records show permitted wells around Parachute from the 1950s through the 2020s, with the newest permit year listed as 2026. The busiest decades were the 1990s, with 179 permits, and the 2000s, with 172. There were 94 in the 2010s and 38 in the 2020s.

Shelton Drilling Corporation, listed with Shelton, Wayne, appears most often in the records, with 214 wells. Authorized, listed with Pe, Pg, appears on 67, and Collins Drilling Co, listed with Collins, F. E. “Bodie,” appears on 23. These names help identify local history, but an older permit does not establish present well performance. Confirm the driller, permit conditions, completion report, and any later pump or water-quality work before relying on the record.

A Parachute well commonly costs $12,000 to $21,000 finished

The local drilling model uses a typical rate of $50 to $75 per foot for mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground. At the 120-foot median depth, drilling the hole alone is estimated at about $6,000 to $9,000.

A finished system, including the pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical work, is estimated at $12,000 to $21,000. The final price can move outside that range if the hole is deeper, access is difficult, casing or grout requirements change, or the lot needs longer utility runs. Get the bid in writing with depth assumptions, casing and grout, pump equipment, testing, electrical, trenching, and unsuccessful-hole terms spelled out. A low drilling quote is not comparable if it leaves out the completion work.

Parachute buyers should check water quality, yield, and site limits

Mapped environmental information deserves attention before closing. Within about 10 miles, the records show 826 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 14 historic mine features, and 1 EPA Superfund or cleanup site. These mapped sites do not by themselves prove that a particular well is contaminated, but they are a reason to order a current laboratory water test and review nearby land uses.

Also investigate low yield, dry-hole risk, and septic separation. A well permit controls allowed use; an exempt household-use well can have specific limits, including the 35-gallon-per-minute exempt-well pumping limit. In an over-appropriated basin, an augmentation plan may be needed. Confirm the well permit, septic approval, legal access, building envelope, and utility route before assuming the lot can support a home.

Use neighboring wells before committing to a Parachute lot

Start with the closest comparable permits, especially domestic wells in Battlement Mesa and the surrounding Parachute area. Compare reported depth, aquifer description, yield, static water level, construction, and permit use rather than looking at one attractive result. The nearby records show that most wells are in the unnamed or fractured-bedrock category, where results can vary between adjacent sites.

For a purchase, make the well permit and construction report part of due diligence. Ask for a flow test, water-quality test, pump details, and a contractor’s estimate based on the actual access route. For a new build, confirm septic setbacks, driveway access, electrical service, trenching, and the legal water supply before finalizing plans. Rifle, Silt, and Battlement Mesa can provide broader regional comparisons, but the parcel’s nearest wells remain the more useful starting point.

Well permits by decade near Parachute

What a new well costs in Parachute, 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 (174 ft) would run roughly $14,700–$25,050. 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 Parachute? 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 Parachute 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 Parachute

Keep researching

More in Garfield County

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

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