Colorado Well Finder › Wells by county › San Miguel County
A well near Telluride is not a reliable cost comparison for a lot near Norwood. San Miguel County's mountain terrain and variable bedrock make the closest comparable well records more useful than a countywide average.
Colorado DWR records include 3,379 permitted wells across the county, with 1,848 recorded as constructed. The reported median depth is 182 feet and median yield is 7.0 gallons per minute, but those figures come from different subsets of records. Use them to start a budget, then narrow the search to your parcel.
Figures are computed from Colorado Division of Water Resources permit records for all permitted wells in the county. Not every permit reports every field; each statistic uses the wells that report it.
| Depth statistic | Feet |
|---|---|
| 25th percentile | 75 |
| Median | 182 |
| 75th percentile | 325 |
| 90th percentile | 500 |
| Deepest on record | 4,080 |
| Aquifer named on permits | Wells |
|---|---|
| unnamed / fractured-bedrock aquifer | 3,143 |
| Dakota | 103 |
| Dakota Sandstone | 36 |
| Yield statistic | gpm |
|---|---|
| 25th percentile | 4.0 |
| Median | 7.0 |
| 75th percentile | 12.0 |
| Median depth to water | 80 ft |
| Median water level by decade | Depth to water |
|---|---|
| 1990s | 125 ft |
| 2000s | 185 ft |
| 2010s | 60 ft |
| 2020s | 84 ft |
Among 2,016 wells reporting depth, the median is 182 feet, and the middle half fall between 75-325 feet. That is a wide enough spread that a flat-price assumption can leave a buyer short. Ask the driller what additional footage costs and how casing and grout are priced if conditions change.
The 90th-percentile depth is 500 feet. Most permit aquifer entries are unnamed or classified as fractured bedrock; others name Dakota or Dakota Sandstone. In fractured rock, usable water depends on intersecting connected water-bearing fractures, not simply reaching a uniform underground layer. Compare nearby completion reports around Placerville, Sawpit or Ophir rather than treating every county well as the same drilling job.
The 717 wells with reported pump yields have a 7.0 gpm median, with the middle half producing 4.0-12.0 gpm. That can support ordinary household use with an appropriately designed system, but a reported test yield is not a guarantee of sustained production through changing conditions.
Low production deserves attention: 4% of reported yields are under 1 gpm, while 21% fall in the 1-5 gpm band. For a buyer, that means checking recovery and peak-demand performance before committing to the property. Storage may help manage intermittent demand, but it cannot create water. Also read the permit: physical production does not establish permission to irrigate or serve additional buildings.
Static water level is the depth to water in a resting well, not the depth of the drilled hole. Across 201 reporting records, the median is 80 feet below ground, with the middle half between 27-183 feet. A pump still needs to be designed around pumping drawdown and the actual well construction.
Median measured levels were 125 feet in the 1990s, 185 feet in the 2000s, 60 feet in the 2010s and 84 feet in the 2020s. That sequence does not establish a steadily dropping countywide water table. These are grouped measurements, not a repeated record from the same wells. Local measurements and pumping history matter more for evaluating a particular property.
Permit issuance was strongest in the 1990s, with 944 permits, followed by 849 in the 2000s. Records show 308 in the 2010s and 224 in the 2020s, with the newest permit dated 2025. The latest decade is incomplete, and permit totals are not the same as completed domestic wells. Monitoring accounts for 22% of the recorded use mix.
The most active drillers in the records are Bill Kissner Drilling Inc (Kissner, Bill F.) with 424, Valley Drilling Co. (Stoy, Kenneth) with 399, and Mccracken Well Drilling Inc (Mccracken, Alan E.) with 255. Those counts show historical presence, not current availability. Ask prospective drillers about recent experience near your parcel and comparable ground conditions.
The supplied cost model assumes fractured mountain bedrock, such as granite or gneiss, at $65-$100 per foot. At the county's 182-foot median depth, that puts the drilled hole at about $11,800-$18,200. A finished well with pump, tank, trenching and electrical is modeled at $17,800-$30,200.
Treat that as a planning allowance, not a parcel-specific quote. The 75-325-foot middle depth range means footage alone can change the job substantially. Mountain access, a workable rig pad, casing requirements and the route to the house also affect the scope. Get a written breakdown showing what is included, what is an allowance and what happens if the initial bore does not produce usable water.
The supplied environmental mapping lists 1,093 historic mine features, 12 PFAS sampling/contamination sites and 11 EPA Superfund/cleanup sites within about 10 miles. Those mapped features are reasons to investigate location and groundwater pathways; they do not establish that a particular well is contaminated. A PFAS sampling site alone does not prove a detection.
Before buying, obtain laboratory water testing and ask the lab or local health authority which additional analyses fit the property's setting. Review casing, grout and the wellhead for sanitary protection. Check production separately from water quality: fractured-bedrock drilling can encounter inadequate water. Place the proposed septic system and building footprint with required well separation, terrain and future service access in mind.
Start with the parcel's DWR permit and well completion report. Confirm that the permit belongs to the property, allows the intended uses and matches the existing installation. An exempt household-use permit does not automatically authorize outdoor watering. A proposed use may require a different permitting path or augmentation in an over-appropriated basin.
Then compare nearby wells on similar terrain around Norwood, Mountain Village or the property's actual neighborhood. Do not substitute records from Ouray County or Montrose County merely because they are nearby. For an existing home, review a current production test and laboratory results. For vacant land, coordinate the well location, rig access, driveway, septic area and house site before finalizing the build layout or purchase contingencies.
| Decade permitted | Wells |
|---|---|
| 1950s | 3 |
| 1960s | 10 |
| 1970s | 181 |
| 1980s | 371 |
| 1990s | 944 |
| 2000s | 849 |
| 2010s | 308 |
| 2020s | 224 |
| Most active drillers on record | Wells |
|---|---|
| Bill Kissner Drilling Inc (Kissner, Bill F.) | 424 |
| Valley Drilling Co. (Stoy, Kenneth) | 399 |
| Mccracken Well Drilling Inc (Mccracken, Alan E.) | 255 |
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 (325 ft) would run roughly $27,125–$44,500. See the full Colorado well cost guide.
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.
The numbers above are the area average. Your lot is one point on the map. Search the address to see the real depth, yield and aquifer of each permitted well around it.
Map wells near San Miguel CountyFor a San Miguel County build, Tri-Lakes Contracting is a licensed Colorado contractor for access driveways, site development, new-build septic systems and custom homes. Coordinate the mountain-site layout so well access, septic placement and the house plan work together.
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A listing photo can't tell you whether a lot is a dream or a money pit. Two parcels near San Miguel 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.
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.
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The median reported well depth is 182 feet, and the middle half range from 75-325 feet. The 90th-percentile depth is 500 feet. These figures come from 2,016 depth reports across the county. Fractured bedrock makes depth variable, so nearby completion reports on similar terrain are a better bidding guide than the median alone.
The bedrock drilling model uses $65-$100 per foot. At the median depth of 182 feet, the drilled hole is about $11,800-$18,200, while a finished well with pump, tank, trenching and electrical is about $17,800-$30,200. Ask for a parcel-specific quote that addresses access, casing, additional footage and the scope of utility connections.
Reported pump yields have a median of 7.0 gpm, with the middle half at 4.0-12.0 gpm. Among reporting wells, 4% yield under 1 gpm. Before buying, request a production and recovery test rather than relying only on the original drilling report. Household performance depends on sustained supply, storage and demand, not just the pump's capacity.
Safety has to be established for the individual well through laboratory testing and inspection. The supplied mapping includes 1,093 historic mine features and 12 PFAS sampling/contamination sites within about 10 miles, but those counts do not establish contamination at your property. Review nearby environmental records and ask which tests are appropriate for the well's location.
The available decade medians do not show a steady decline. Static water depths were 125 feet in the 1990s, 185 in the 2000s, 60 in the 2010s and 84 in the 2020s. These grouped records are not repeat measurements of the same wells. Evaluate local water-level and pumping history before drawing conclusions about a specific property.
Driveway, septic, site development, feasibility or a custom build near San Miguel County.
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