San Acacio, Colorado Well Guide

How deep are wells around San Acacio?

How much water do wells make near San Acacio?

San Acacio well depths and the ground below

The median recorded well depth near San Acacio is 170 feet. The middle half runs from 117 to 280 feet, so a typical drilling bid should not be based on the median alone. A contractor may encounter a shallower hole near the low end or need to drill substantially farther near the high end.

Most wells, 61%, fall between 100 and 300 feet. Another 22% are between 300 and 600 feet, while the deepest record reaches 850 feet. The ground is described as mixed sedimentary and alluvial material. Permits most often name an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer, where water-bearing fractures can vary sharply from one location to the next. Casing, grout, and the final pump setup should be specified in the driller's proposal.

What San Acacio wells produce

Among the 53 wells reporting pump yield, the median is 15.0 gallons per minute. The middle half spans 10.0 to 60.0 gallons per minute, which is a wide spread and a reminder that nearby wells can perform very differently.

The recorded mix is encouraging for ordinary household planning: 51% report more than 15 gallons per minute, and 45% report between 5 and 15 gallons per minute. Four percent report between 1 and 5 gallons per minute, while none are recorded under 1 gallon per minute. These are reported well yields, not a promise of continuous household supply. Ask for the completion report and a sustained yield test. An exempt household-use well still has a 35-gallon-per-minute pumping limit, and additional water rights may require an augmentation plan in an over-appropriated basin.

Water levels near San Acacio over time

The reported static water level has a median depth of 100 feet below the surface. The middle half is 48 to 140 feet, giving a useful range for planning pump depth, trenching, and storage equipment.

The decade figures show a change worth investigating: the median measured water level was 64 feet below ground in the 2010s and 117 feet in the 2020s. That pattern is consistent with deeper measured water levels in the newer decade, but only 24 wells report static water levels, and the measurements may come from different locations, aquifers, seasons, and conditions. It is not enough by itself to prove a regional decline. For a purchase, compare the closest completed wells and request current measurements when possible.

Permit history and drillers serving the area

San Acacio has a long permit record rather than a short burst of recent construction. The records show 3 permits in the 1950s, 6 in the 1960s, 28 in the 1970s, 14 in the 1980s, 38 in the 1990s, 24 in the 2000s, 45 in the 2010s, and 28 in the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2025.

Heersink Drilling, listed as Heersink, Scott, appears most often with 22 records. Olsen, Gayln F. appears on 15, and Mitchell Drilling Co., listed as Mitchell Jr., John C., appears on 9. These names show who has worked in the mapped record; they are not a recommendation. Before hiring, confirm current licensing, insurance, availability, the proposed construction method, and how the contractor handles an unsuccessful hole.

What a new well costs near San Acacio

For the mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground described here, the cost model uses $50 to $75 per drilled foot. At the 170-foot median depth, that puts the drilled hole at about $8,500 to $12,800. This is the hole only, not the complete water system.

A finished well with pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is modeled at $14,500 to $24,800 at the median depth. The 117-to-280-foot middle range explains why bids can differ substantially between nearby lots. Get the price in writing, including casing, grout, drilling through difficult material, water testing, abandonment of a dry hole, power distance, trench restoration, and any permit or engineering work. A deeper-than-median hole can move the total beyond the typical finished range.

Risks to check before buying or building

Low yield is not the only concern. The area has one mapped PFAS sampling or contamination site within about 10 miles and 15 historic mine features. There are no mapped EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. Those records do not establish the condition of a particular well, but they are reasons to check the exact parcel and test the water rather than assuming it is safe.

Ask for bacteria, nitrate, and other testing appropriate to the site, along with any available treatment history. Locate the septic system and proposed replacement area before finalizing a building plan. Septic setbacks, access for a drill rig, electrical service, trench routes, and the location of the wellhead all affect cost and feasibility. Fractured-bedrock conditions also make dry or weak holes harder to predict than the neighborhood median suggests.

Buying land near San Acacio: a practical plan

Start with the closest neighboring completion reports, not an average from the entire five-mile area. San Luis is about 8 miles away; Blanca is 16 miles, Fort Garland 17 miles, Sanford 19 miles, Manassa 21 miles, and La Jara 22 miles. Those places provide regional context, but the closest wells usually tell you more about the lot's ground and aquifer.

Before closing, confirm the DWR permit status and allowed use, inspect any existing pump and pressure equipment, and obtain a current water test. If building, have a driller and excavator review rig access, the well location, septic layout, power, and driveway grades together. Budget for a range around the local depth and yield data, and make the contract address what happens if the first hole does not produce enough water.

Well permits by decade near San Acacio

What a new well costs in San Acacio, 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 (280 ft) would run roughly $20,000–$33,000. 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 San Acacio? 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 San Acacio 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 San Acacio

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