What to Expect From a Well in San Juan County

How deep are wells around San Juan County?

How much water do wells make near San Juan County?

A 100-Foot Median, With Room for Deeper Drilling

Among the 92 wells reporting depth, the median is 100 feet and the middle half runs 58-200 feet. That is a useful starting range for a bid, not a target depth the driller can promise. The 90th-percentile depth is 319 feet, and the deepest reported well reaches 480 feet.

Most permit aquifer entries are unnamed or identified as fractured bedrock. In that setting, usable water depends on intersecting connected fractures; drilling deeper does not automatically mean getting more water. Ask for a bid that explains how additional footage and casing are charged. Around Silverton, compare nearby completion logs and terrain before applying the county median to a particular lot.

Reported Yields Look Useful, but the Sample Is Small

Only 24 wells report a pump yield. Their median is 11.0 gpm, with the middle half between 7.4 and 15.0 gpm. Those reported rates are encouraging for household planning, but a completion-test yield is not a guarantee of sustained production through changing conditions.

The reported share under 1 gpm is 0%, while 12% fall in the 1-5 gpm band. That does not establish that low-producing or unsuccessful wells are absent from the county. For a purchase, have the existing well tested for sustained output and recovery. Match that result to household demand, pump equipment and any storage needs rather than relying on the county yield alone.

Water May Stand Above the Bottom of the Borehole

The 16 static-water-level reports show a median depth to water of 40 feet, with the middle half at 7-52 feet. Static level is where water stands when the well is resting. It is not the total drilled depth, and it does not tell you how far the level will fall while pumping.

These records do not establish a rising or falling water-table trend. There is no time series here for making that call, and fractured-bedrock wells may tap different water-bearing zones. For an existing San Juan County well, ask for dated measurements and a pumping test. A resting water level alone cannot establish dependable supply or the right pump setting.

San Juan County’s Permit History Needs Careful Reading

Permit issuance spans decades: 7 in the 1970s, 51 in the 1980s, 29 in the 1990s, 33 in the 2000s, 49 in the 2010s and 47 in the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2025, so the latest decade is incomplete. These are permits, not a count of finished household wells; 36% of the use mix is domestic/household and 31% is monitoring.

The most active driller-field entries include Dak Drilling Llc (Rathjen, Doug) and Mccracken Well Drilling Inc (Mccracken, Alan E.), with 10 each. The label “Authorized (Pe, Pg)” appears on 35 records; treat that as a record label, not a verified drilling-company name. Historical activity does not establish current availability.

Budget Beyond the Drilled Hole Near Silverton

The county cost model assumes fractured mountain bedrock, described as granite/gneiss, at $65-$100 per foot. At the 100-foot median depth, that puts the drilled hole around $6,500-$10,000. A finished well with pump, tank, trenching and electrical is modeled at $12,500-$22,000.

Use that as a planning allowance, not a parcel-specific quote. The 58-200-foot middle depth range leaves substantial uncertainty in footage alone. Have the contractor separate drilling, casing and grout from pump installation and service connections. Mountain access, rig setup and the route between the well and house need a site review. Confirm what the quote includes before comparing bids, especially where excavation or electrical work is priced separately.

Mine Features and Cleanup Sites Warrant a Water Check

The supplied environmental mapping lists 9,581 historic mine features, 33 EPA Superfund/cleanup sites and 14 PFAS sampling/contamination sites within about 10 miles. These are screening flags, not evidence that a particular well is contaminated. A sampling location also does not necessarily represent a confirmed contamination finding.

Before buying, review nearby site records and arrange laboratory testing suited to drinking water and local mining concerns. Discuss metals and any relevant PFAS testing with the laboratory or health authority. Separately, inspect the wellhead, casing and surface drainage, and check the septic layout. The permit dataset does not establish a dry-hole rate, so do not interpret an unconstructed or incomplete record as a failed borehole.

Before Closing on a San Juan County Lot

Start with the parcel’s DWR permit and completion record, not just the seller’s description of a “domestic well.” Confirm the authorized uses, well location and any permit conditions. An exempt household-use permit does not automatically authorize outdoor watering. Where applicable, water-right or augmentation requirements need review before you commit to a use.

Then compare nearby wells around Silverton and the property itself. A countywide average is not interchangeable with records from Ouray County or San Miguel County. For a new build, lay out the well, septic system, house, driveway and utility trenches together, with required separations confirmed locally. Keep drilling access available and make water-supply verification part of the purchase decision.

Well permits by decade near San Juan County

What a new well costs in San Juan 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 (200 ft) would run roughly $19,000–$32,000. 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 Juan 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 San Juan 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 San Juan County

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Towns and areas in San Juan County

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