What Silt, Colorado Wells Are Really Like

How deep are wells around Silt?

How much water do wells make near Silt?

Silt well depth: mostly shallow to moderate

The median reported well depth near Silt is 116 feet. The middle half runs from 80 to 180 feet, so a driller bidding a typical site should be thinking in that general range rather than assuming every well reaches several hundred feet. Fifty-seven percent of reported depths fall between 100 and 300 feet, while 37% are under 100 feet.

The spread still matters. The 90th-percentile depth is 240 feet, and the deepest record reaches 750 feet. Local geology is listed mostly as unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer, with 2,311 wells in that category. Alluvial and Wasatch-Fort Union wells are much less common. A nearby well log helps identify the formation, casing and grout conditions a new bid may encounter.

How much water a Silt well can produce

Reported pump yields have a 14.0 gallons-per-minute median, with the middle half between 5.0 and 15.0 gallons per minute. Forty-eight percent of reported wells produce more than 15 gallons per minute, while 33% fall between 5 and 15. That is generally a workable range for a household, but yield is not the same as storage or guaranteed long-term supply.

Low-producing wells are part of the local record: 18% report 1 to 5 gallons per minute and 2% report under 1 gallon per minute. Ask for the driller’s yield test, recovery information and pump setting before relying on a listing’s water claims. An exempt household-use well still has Colorado limits, including the 35 gpm pumping limit, and some basins require an augmentation plan.

Silt water levels and the measured trend

The reported median static water level is 30 feet below the surface, with the middle half between 16 and 51 feet. That can reduce pumping lift compared with a much deeper water level, but it does not tell you how much water the formation can deliver. Water level should be checked at the individual well, preferably before and after pumping.

The decade series does not show a simple steady decline. Median depth to water was 55 feet in the 1980s, 35 in the 1990s, 25 in the 2000s, 18 in the 2010s, and 31 in the 2020s. Those measurements come from different wells and conditions, so the change should not be treated as a site-specific trend. It does support checking current records rather than relying on an old well log.

Who drilled around Silt, and when

Permit history is substantial. The records include 5 permits from the 1950s, 45 from the 1960s, 197 from the 1970s, 314 from the 1980s, 675 from the 1990s, 528 from the 2000s, 197 from the 2010s and 164 from the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2025. Most use is domestic or household at 77%, followed by monitoring at 14%, stock at 7% and irrigation at 4%.

Shelton Drilling Corporation, listed with Shelton, Wayne, appears most often with 785 records. Collins Drilling Co, listed with Collins, F. E. “Bodie,” has 129, and Stoneman Drilling, listed with Stoneman, Frank, has 114. These records identify historical activity, not a recommendation or proof that a company is available for a new project.

What a new Silt well may cost

The local drilling model uses mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground at $50 to $75 per foot. At the 116-foot median depth, the drilled hole calculates to about $5,800 to $8,700. That is only the hole, not a ready-to-use water system.

A finished well including the pump, pressure tank, trenching and electrical is estimated at $11,800 to $20,700 at that median depth. A deeper hole, difficult access, extra casing or unexpected formation conditions can change the bid. Ask the driller to separate footage, casing, grout, pump equipment, trenching, electrical work, testing and permit-related work. Comparing the proposal with nearby constructed well logs is more useful than comparing a single low per-foot price.

Silt risks to check before you build

Low yield is not the only concern. The records include 2% of reported yields under 1 gallon per minute, and some wells may not have a reported yield at all. Fractured-bedrock settings can be unpredictable, so a dry hole or a lower-than-expected production rate remains a possibility even near a productive well. Confirm the well’s construction, pump test and maintenance history.

Environmental due diligence also deserves attention. Within about 10 miles, the map includes 380 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 47 historic mine features and 3 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. These mapped locations do not prove contamination at your property. Test the water, review nearby site information and check septic setbacks, drainage, building envelopes and access for drilling and future repairs before closing or starting construction.

Well permits by decade near Silt

What a new well costs in Silt, 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 (180 ft) would run roughly $15,000–$25,500. 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 Silt? 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 Silt 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 Silt

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More in Garfield County

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

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