Pine Valley, Colorado Well Depth, Yield, and Cost

How deep are wells around Pine Valley?

How much water do wells make near Pine Valley?

Pine Valley wells usually reach fractured mountain bedrock

The local depth record points to substantial drilling. The median completed depth is 318 feet, while the middle half of reported wells falls from 200 to 485 feet. That middle range is the most useful starting point for a bid, but it is not a guarantee for a particular parcel.

About 42% of wells are between 300 and 600 feet, and 15% exceed 600 feet. Another 34% fall between 100 and 300 feet, while 9% are under 100 feet. The deepest recorded well reaches 3,523 feet. Permits most often name unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifers, with fractured crystalline and fractured granite also appearing.

A 7-gpm median is a workable local benchmark

Reported well yields have a median of 7.0 gallons per minute, with the middle half between 4.0 and 10.0 gallons per minute. For a typical household, that range can be a reasonable production target, but storage and well recovery still matter. A yield test is more useful than a regional average when you are evaluating a specific property.

The records show 62% of reported wells producing between 5 and 15 gallons per minute. Another 27% produce between 1 and 5 gallons per minute, while 2% are under 1 gallon per minute and 9% exceed 15 gallons per minute. Fractured rock can change abruptly across short distances, so neighboring results are evidence, not a promise.

Water levels look deeper than the earliest records

Among wells reporting a static water level, the median depth to water is 96 feet, with the middle half from 50 to 150 feet below the surface. That measurement describes the water level when the well is not being pumped; it is not the same as well depth or pumping yield.

The decade series moves from 29 feet in the 1960s to 68 feet in the 1970s and 95 feet in the 1980s. It was 82 feet in the 1990s, then 100 feet in both the 2010s and 2020s. The available record suggests deeper water levels than in the earliest measurements, but the dataset includes only 174 static-water reports, so it should not be treated as a complete groundwater trend for every lot.

Permit activity spans Pine Valley and nearby mountain corridors

Colorado DWR records contain 4,779 permitted wells within the five-mile study area. Of those, 3,128 are recorded as constructed, 3,229 report a total depth, and 1,685 report a pump yield. The permits are overwhelmingly domestic or household use at 94%; stock, irrigation, and monitoring uses make up the remainder.

Activity was strongest in the 1970s, with 1,128 permits, and the 1990s, with 1,088. The newest permit year is 2025. The most frequent driller names in the records are James Drilling Company (Keaton, Michael K.), Walton, and Living Water Systems Inc. (Goble, Robert). Compare records around Echo Hills, Upper Witter Gulch, Floyd Hill, Blue Valley, and Upper Bear Creek before choosing a contractor.

Budget roughly $26,700 to $43,800 for a finished median-depth well

In Pine Valley’s fractured granite and gneiss, the drilling rate model is $65 to $100 per foot. Applied to the 318-foot median depth, the drilled hole alone models at about $20,700 to $31,800.

A finished system, including the pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical work, models at about $26,700 to $43,800 at that depth. Treat this as a planning range, not a fixed quote. Access, casing and grout requirements, difficult ground, water storage, power distance, and the final well depth can move the total. Ask every bidder to separate drilling from completion, pump equipment, trenching, electrical, testing, and any work needed to reach the homesite.

Mine features and septic layout deserve a close review

Low yield is not the only local concern. The mapping shows 27 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 2,207 historic mine features, and 8 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites within about 10 miles. These mapped sites do not prove that a particular well is contaminated, but they are a reason to check the well’s construction record, test existing water, and review nearby land uses before closing.

Have the well water tested for ordinary household quality and for site-specific concerns identified in the area review. Confirm that the proposed well, septic system, replacement area, driveway, and house can fit on the lot with required separations. A low-producing or dry hole can also leave a parcel without a practical household supply. A DWR permit, casing, grout, and a properly documented completion matter for both construction and resale.

Check the records before you buy or start a build

Start with the closest permitted wells, especially in Echo Hills, Upper Witter Gulch, Floyd Hill, Blue Valley, and Upper Bear Creek. Compare their depths, reported yields, static water levels, aquifer descriptions, and dates. A nearby 318-foot well with a 7.0-gpm yield is useful context, but fractured rock can change quickly between lots.

For an existing home, request the well permit, construction report, pump information, recent water test, and a current production or recovery evaluation. For vacant land, confirm access for a rig, estimate a drilling range around the local 200- to 485-foot middle half, and design the septic and house locations before drilling. Also ask how the proposed use fits the permit. Household-use exempt wells are common in Colorado, but pumping, augmentation, and land-use requirements depend on the permit and basin.

Well permits by decade near Pine Valley

What a new well costs in Pine Valley, 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 (485 ft) would run roughly $37,525–$60,500. 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 Pine Valley? 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 Pine Valley 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 Pine Valley

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

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