Salt Creek, Colorado Well and Drilling Guide

How deep are wells around Salt Creek?

How much water do wells make near Salt Creek?

Salt Creek wells are usually shallow, with exceptions

For Salt Creek and the surrounding five-mile area, the median well depth is 32 feet. Half of the wells with reported depths fall between 25 and 40 feet, and the 90th-percentile depth is 50 feet. A full 97% are under 100 feet. That is the depth range a driller is most likely to discuss for ordinary local conditions.

The record also contains a small deep-well tail: 1% fall from 100 to 300 feet, 1% from 300 to 600 feet, and 1% are deeper than 600 feet. The deepest recorded well is 1,795 feet. Salt Creek sits on alluvium and plains sedimentary rock, while permits commonly identify an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer. Local geology and the exact lot still control the bid.

Reported yields are generally usable, but verify the lot

The 164 wells with reported pump yields show a median of 15.0 gallons per minute. The middle half runs from 11.8 to 36.2 gallons per minute. Sixty percent report more than 15 gallons per minute, while 34% fall between 5 and 15 gallons per minute.

Low production is uncommon in this record but not absent: 5% report 1 to 5 gallons per minute and 1% report less than 1 gallon per minute. These figures describe reported pump tests, not a promise for an unbuilt well. Ask for the neighboring permits, construction reports, and any available production test. A domestic well also needs the correct DWR permit and must follow its allowed uses and pumping limits.

Water levels are close to the surface and not dropping in this record

Only 120 wells report a static water level, so this is a smaller dataset than the depth record. Among those measurements, the median depth to water is 19 feet, with the middle half between 12 and 25 feet below the surface. That shallow water level can simplify drilling, but it also means construction and sealing details matter.

The decade figures do not show a clear long-term decline. Median depth to water was 20 feet in the 1960s, 20 feet in the 2010s, and 17 feet in the 2020s. Those measurements come from different wells and locations, so they are a local indication rather than a parcel-specific forecast. Confirm the current water level and seasonal conditions with a driller.

Permit history points to steady local drilling activity

Salt Creek’s permit history extends through a newest permit year of 2025. Permits issued by decade were 111 in the 1950s, 178 in the 1960s, 318 in the 1970s, 123 in the 1980s, 382 in the 1990s, 431 in the 2000s, 493 in the 2010s, and 206 in the 2020s.

The largest named share of drilling records belongs to Authorized (Pe, Pg), with 625 records. Don Stewart & Son Drilling, listed as Stewart, Donald D, appears on 250, and Hoffman, listed as Hoffman, Earl, appears on 41. These names describe permit records, not a recommendation or proof that a driller is available today. Confirm licensing, insurance, scheduling, and the proposed construction method before signing.

A median-depth Salt Creek well is only part of the project cost

For alluvium and plains sedimentary rock, the drilling model uses $35 to $55 per foot. At the local median depth of 32 feet, the drilled hole models to about $1,100 to $1,800. That is not the finished-water-system price.

Including the pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical work, the modeled finished-well total is about $7,100 to $13,800. A bid can move outside that range if the lot needs greater depth, difficult access, extra casing or grout, unusual electrical work, or longer utility trenches. Get the written scope broken into drilling, casing, grout, development, pump equipment, testing, trenching, and electrical items so competing bids cover the same work.

Check water quality, septic space, and dry-hole exposure

Environmental screening within about 10 miles identifies 49 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 32 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites, and 2 historic mine features. That map does not prove a problem on a specific parcel, but it is enough reason to test a new or existing well and review nearby land uses. Ask for the well’s laboratory results, construction report, and treatment history.

Low-yield and dry-hole risk remains possible even with strong local medians. Before buying or building, locate the proposed well, septic system, replacement area, driveway, and house together. Confirm setbacks, access for a rig, casing and grout requirements, and the permitted household use. Where water rights are constrained, an augmentation plan may be required. Have a Colorado water professional review the permit before closing.

Well permits by decade near Salt Creek

What a new well costs in Salt Creek, 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 (40 ft) would run roughly $7,400–$14,200. 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 Salt Creek? 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 Salt Creek 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 Salt Creek

Keep researching

More in Pueblo County

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

Nearby areas