What to Expect From a Well in Pueblo County

How deep are wells around Pueblo County?

How much water do wells make near Pueblo County?

A 46-Foot Median Hides Pueblo County’s Deeper Wells

Among the 8,251 wells reporting depth, 68% are under 100 feet. The median is 46 feet, but the middle half spans 32–184 feet. For a drilling bid, that means the county median is a starting point, not a dependable footage allowance. The 90th-percentile depth is 520 feet.

Ground conditions include alluvium and plains sedimentary rock. Permit entries name Dakota for 275 wells and Alluvial for 171; another 11,416 fall in an unnamed / fractured-bedrock category. That broad category does not establish the formation beneath your parcel. Compare nearby completion logs around Vineland or Boone separately from those around Beulah Valley, and ask the driller which water-bearing formation the bid targets.

Reported Yields Usually Clear the Low-Output Range

The 1,657 wells with reported pump yields have a 10.7 gpm median, with the middle half producing 7.5–15.0 gpm. That range can support ordinary household demand when the well sustains its output and the pump and pressure system are properly sized. A recorded drilling-time yield is not a current performance guarantee.

Only 1% of reported yields are under 1 gpm, while 8% fall in the 1–5 gpm group. Those lower-output wells deserve careful attention to recovery, storage and peak household demand. Before buying, get a current pumping evaluation rather than relying on the county median. Also check permitted uses: available flow does not automatically authorize irrigation or livestock watering.

Recent Water-Level Records Are Deeper, but Not a Parcel Forecast

Static water level is the resting depth to water, not the drilled depth or the water level while pumping. Pueblo County has 577 records reporting it, with a median of 50 feet below ground and a middle half of 21–191 feet. These are a different reporting group from the depth records, so the medians should not be treated as measurements of the same well.

Decade medians move from 25 feet in the 1960s to 20 in the 1980s, then 33 in the 2010s and 99 in the 2020s. Recent measurements are substantially deeper, but this is not a steady decline through the whole series. Different locations and aquifers may explain part of the change; repeated measurements from nearby comparable wells are more useful.

Permit Activity Runs Through 2025

Pueblo County’s permit history includes 1,893 permits issued in the 1990s and 2,389 in the 2000s, followed by 1,358 in the 2010s. The records show 699 in the 2020s, with the newest permit year listed as 2025. The latest decade is incomplete, so its total is not directly comparable with a finished decade.

Frequently listed driller names include Don Stewart & Son Drilling (Stewart, Donald D), with 501 records, and Arkansas Valley Drilling (Moore, Todd A.), with 490. The larger entry, “Authorized (Pe, Pg),” has 1,486 records but should not be treated as a confirmed drilling-company name. Historical record counts show past activity, not present availability or a recommendation.

Budget Beyond the Drilled Hole in Pueblo County

The local cost model uses $35–$55 per foot for drilling through alluvium and plains sedimentary rock. At the 46-foot median depth, that puts the drilled hole at about $1,600–$2,500. A finished well with pump, tank, trenching and electrical is modeled at $7,600–$14,500.

Those figures describe the median-depth case, not a countywide fixed-price package. The 32–184-foot middle range alone leaves substantial room for footage differences. Ask for a written scope covering casing, grout, well development, pump selection and connections to the house. Have the contractor explain extra-depth charges and what happens financially if the initial hole does not produce usable water. Access and the final site layout also belong in the discussion.

Check Water Quality and Septic Before Closing

The environmental screening inventory lists 56 PFAS sampling/contamination sites, 34 EPA Superfund/cleanup sites and 5 historic mine features within about 10 miles. These mapped sites are reasons to investigate the parcel’s surroundings, not proof that a particular well is contaminated. A sampling location is not automatically a confirmed contamination source.

Use laboratory testing to establish drinking-water quality, and ask whether nearby site histories warrant targeted testing. Inspect the wellhead, casing condition and drainage around it. Low reported yields also warrant a current performance check; a neighboring successful well cannot guarantee a productive new hole. For building, confirm that the well, septic system, replacement septic area and house can fit with the required separations before committing to a layout.

Make the Lot Decision With Local Logs and the Actual Permit

Start close to the property. A countywide search is useful background, but a buyer in Blende or Salt Creek should first examine surrounding completion records rather than borrowing expectations from Colorado City or Rye. Look for matching geology, drilled depths, reported yields and recent water-level measurements.

Then read the actual DWR permit. Domestic/household use appears on 54% of county records, but that does not establish what your permit allows. Confirm household, outdoor and stock uses individually. In an over-appropriated basin, a proposed use may require an augmentation plan unless it qualifies for an exemption. Make purchase or construction commitments contingent on permit suitability, well performance, water quality and a workable site plan.

Well permits by decade near Pueblo County

What a new well costs in Pueblo 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 (184 ft) would run roughly $12,440–$22,120. 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 Pueblo 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 Pueblo 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 Pueblo County

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