What to Expect From a Well in Phillips County

How deep are wells around Phillips County?

How much water do wells make near Phillips County?

Around Holyoke and Haxtun, Budget for More Than a Shallow Well

Among the 1,480 wells reporting depth, the median is 270 ft and the middle half runs 218-305 ft. That is a useful range for comparing preliminary bids, not a promise that drilling will stop there. The 90th-percentile depth is 340 ft, and the deepest recorded well reaches 515 ft. Ask how a bid handles additional footage and casing.

Phillips County's drilling ground is alluvium and plains sedimentary rock. Permits name the Ogallala for 1,087 wells and the High Plains Aquifer for 22. Another 1,682 fall under an unnamed / fractured-bedrock label; that broad records category should not be read as proof of granite beneath your lot. Local sediment layers and the water-bearing interval determine the actual completion.

A 20 gpm Median Does Not Describe Every Phillips County Well

The 505 reported pump yields have a median of 20.0 gpm, with the middle half spanning 14.0-600.0 gpm. That wide spread needs context: irrigation appears on 47% of permits, domestic/household use on 34%, and stock use on 28%. This is not a household-only yield sample, and a high-capacity irrigation well is a poor direct comparison for a home well.

Reported yields include 2% at 1-5 gpm and 0% under 1 gpm. Those records do not establish that every attempted well succeeded. For a purchase, get a current pumping and recovery test rather than relying on the original reported yield. The result should be evaluated against household demand and the uses allowed by the permit.

Phillips County's Water-Level Records Point Deeper

Static water level is the resting depth to water, not the bottom of the well. Across 172 reports, the median is 158 ft below ground, with the middle half at 121-195 ft. A well's total depth alone does not tell you how much usable water remains above its pump.

The decade medians deepen from 121 ft in the 1960s to 134 ft in the 1970s, 182 ft in the 2010s and 190 ft in the 2020s. That pattern is consistent with a declining water table. It is not a measured decline at every property: the medians may represent different wells and locations. Before buying, compare the well's current static and pumping levels with its construction log and earlier measurements.

A Long Drilling Record, With Permits Through 2025

Phillips County's permit history includes 33 permits in the 1950s and 377 in the 1970s. Later records show 333 in the 1990s, 278 in the 2000s, 182 in the 2010s and 111 in the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2025. The latest decade is incomplete, so its count should not be treated as a finished comparison.

The most active listed drillers are Wellstone Industries Dba Twiss & Wilson Drilling Inc (Twiss, Raymond L.), with 345 records; Stewart Drilling Co. (Stewart, Dennis W.), with 105; and Jim Feighny & Sons (Feighny, Jim), with 100. These are historical record counts, not confirmation of current availability. Permit issuance also does not establish that a well was constructed.

Plan on a Finished-Well Budget, Not Just Footage

The Phillips County cost model uses $35-$55 per foot for drilling in alluvium and plains sedimentary rock. At the 270 ft median depth, the drilled hole is about $9,400-$14,800. A finished well with pump, tank, trenching and electrical is modeled at $15,400-$26,800.

Use that finished range as an early planning allowance, then get a site-specific written bid. Confirm the proposed depth, casing and grout, pump selection, trench route and electrical scope. Ask how testing and unexpected drilling conditions are priced. A property needing a deeper completion or a different equipment layout will not necessarily fit the median-depth model. Keep driveway, septic and home construction costs separate from the well allowance.

Check Water Quality and Well Condition Before Closing

The environmental mapping identifies 14 PFAS sampling/contamination sites within about 10 miles. That is a screening flag, not proof that a particular well contains PFAS. The same mapping lists 0 historic mine features and 0 EPA Superfund/cleanup sites, but those counts do not establish drinking-water safety.

Have a qualified laboratory test the property's water for bacteria and nitrate, and discuss PFAS testing in light of nearby site information. Inspect the wellhead, casing and surface drainage for routes that could admit contamination. Reported yield data cannot tell you the chance of a dry hole on an unbuilt lot. For an existing home, pair water testing with a pumping test; for construction, coordinate the well location with septic setbacks, building placement and service access.

For a Phillips County Lot, Start With the Permit and Nearby Logs

Before committing to land near Amherst, Paoli, Holyoke or Haxtun, compare neighboring well depths, aquifer descriptions and recent water-level measurements. Countywide numbers are more useful than distant assumptions, but the closest comparable wells usually provide a better basis for a drilling conversation. Records across the boundary in Sedgwick County or Yuma County may help when the geology is comparable.

Have DWR confirm the property's permitting path and allowed uses. Do not assume a household well authorizes livestock, lawn watering or irrigation. Exempt permits carry specific conditions, and some nonexempt uses may require augmentation. Make the purchase decision around a workable plan for water supply, septic, building placement and drilling access—not simply the presence of a permit on a map.

Well permits by decade near Phillips County

What a new well costs in Phillips County

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 (305 ft) would run roughly $16,675–$28,775. 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 Phillips County? 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 Phillips County 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 Phillips County

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Towns and areas in Phillips County

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