What Ridgway Wells Cost, Produce, and Require

How deep are wells around Ridgway?

How much water do wells make near Ridgway?

Ridgway well depth depends on fractured mountain rock

The median reported well depth near Ridgway is 184 feet. The middle half runs from 85 to 300 feet, so a driller bidding a typical homesite will usually need to allow for a fairly broad range rather than quote one standard depth. The 90th percentile is 405 feet, while the deepest record reaches 4421 feet.

Depths are distributed across the area: 29% are under 100 feet, 42% fall between 100 and 300 feet, 25% between 300 and 600 feet, and 4% exceed 600 feet. Most permits name an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer. Dakota Sandstone and Dakota appear on a smaller number of permits, and no wells are identified in the Denver Basin aquifer.

Most Ridgway wells make useful household water

Among the 141 local records reporting pump yield, the median is 12.0 gallons per minute. The middle half runs from 8.0 to 15.0 gallons per minute. That is a solid local production pattern for a household well, but it is not a guarantee for an unbuilt lot or a particular bedrock fracture.

Yield records show 43% above 15 gallons per minute, 45% between 5 and 15 gallons per minute, 11% between 1 and 5 gallons per minute, and 1% under 1 gallon per minute. Ask for a production test and the well-completion report. A Colorado exempt household-use well also has a 35 gallon-per-minute pumping limit, even when the well could produce more.

Water levels around Ridgway vary by location

The reported static water level has a median depth of 56 feet. The middle half ranges from 9 to 121 feet below ground surface. That spread is wide enough to affect pump setting, trenching, storage, and the cost of getting water into a house.

Only 28 wells report a static water level, so this dataset is not large enough to establish a dependable decade-by-decade water-table trend. Do not treat the median as a guarantee for a vacant parcel. Nearby well logs, the proposed well elevation, and a driller’s local experience are more useful for estimating where water may stand on your property.

Ridgway permit history shows steady drilling activity

Permit activity began in the local record in the 1950s, with 5 permits that decade, and continued through the newest permit year, 2025. The largest decade was the 1990s with 103 permits. The record also shows 72 in the 1980s, 72 in the 2000s, 53 in the 1970s, 53 in the 2010s, 32 in the 2020s, and 1 in the 1960s.

Valley Drilling Co. (Stoy, Kenneth) appears most often, with 110 records. Mccracken Well Drilling Inc (Mccracken, Alan E.) appears on 36, and Bill Kissner Drilling Inc (Kissner, Bill F.) on 30. These names are useful when comparing nearby completion histories around Loghill Village, Portland, Ouray, and Colona, but old records do not replace a current site evaluation.

A Ridgway well budget starts with the rock

Local drilling is modeled as fractured mountain bedrock, including granite and gneiss. The typical drilling rate is $65-$100 per foot. At the 184-foot median depth, the drilled hole alone is estimated at about $12,000-$18,400.

A finished system with pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is estimated at about $18,000-$30,400 at that median depth. A deeper hole, difficult access, casing and grout requirements, or a low-producing fracture can push the actual bid higher. Have the proposal state what is included, including mobilization, casing, grout, pump equipment, storage, testing, trenching, and electrical work. Compare bids on the same scope rather than on footage alone.

Check water quality, yield, septic, and the homesite

Water quantity is only one part of due diligence. Within about 10 miles, the mapped environmental inventory includes 4 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 81 historic mine features, and 2 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. Those locations do not prove contamination at a specific parcel, but they are reasons to review site history and test the finished well before relying on it.

Low-yield and dry holes remain possible in fractured rock even though the local yield records are generally favorable. Confirm the proposed well location can be separated from septic components, buildings, driveways, and property lines under the applicable requirements. A septic designer should evaluate soil and slope before you commit to a house plan. Water rights, DWR permitting, and an augmentation plan may also matter, especially in an over-appropriated basin.

Use neighboring Ridgway wells before buying or building

Start with the DWR permit and construction records for the parcel and the closest completed wells. Compare depths, aquifer descriptions, casing and grout, pump yields, static water levels, and well elevations. The local median is useful for budgeting, but the 85-to-300-foot middle range shows why a single nearby well should not be treated as a guaranteed result.

For a purchase near Ridgway, Loghill Village, or the Ouray side of the valley, make water testing, well-flow information, and septic feasibility part of your review period. For a new build, get a driller’s site-specific estimate and confirm access for equipment before finalizing the homesite. Colorado permits and an exempt-well limitation do not by themselves promise adequate household water.

Well permits by decade near Ridgway

What a new well costs in Ridgway, 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 (300 ft) would run roughly $25,500–$42,000. 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 Ridgway? 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 Ridgway 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 Ridgway

Keep researching

More in Ouray County

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

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