Silver Plume Well Depth, Yield, and Drilling Costs

How deep are wells around Silver Plume?

How much water do wells make near Silver Plume?

Silver Plume well depth depends on the mountain rock

The median reported well depth near Silver Plume is 60 feet. The middle half runs from 29 to 118 feet, while the 90th percentile is 194 feet. That spread matters when you request a drilling bid: a shallow local median does not eliminate the possibility of drilling substantially deeper on a particular parcel.

Seventy percent of reported wells are under 100 feet, 24% fall between 100 and 300 feet, 4% between 300 and 600 feet, and 2% exceed 600 feet. The deepest record is 802 feet. Permits identify unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifers for 326 wells, with only 2 identifying fractured granite and 9 identifying alluvial water. Fractured granite and gneiss can change quickly across short distances.

Reported yields are generally workable, but records are limited

Among the 40 wells that report a pump yield, the median is 10.0 gallons per minute. The middle half is 8.8 to 13.2 gallons per minute. Seventy-five percent of those reported yields are between 5 and 15 gallons per minute, and 20% are above 15 gallons per minute. No reported well is under 1 gallon per minute, while 5% are between 1 and 5 gallons per minute.

That is a favorable record for ordinary household planning, but the sample is small compared with the 356 permitted wells. A yield test and storage-tank plan still matter, especially for a full-time home, multiple fixtures, livestock, or a property with a slow-recovering fractured-rock well. Colorado exempt household-use wells also have a 35 gallon-per-minute pumping limit.

Water levels are shallow in the available Silver Plume records

Only 16 wells report a static water level. Their median depth to water is 20 feet, with the middle half from 8 to 41 feet. That suggests water is commonly encountered relatively close to the surface in the reported wells, but it does not tell you the static level on an untested parcel.

The permit-by-decade series describes permitting activity, not groundwater levels: records show 1 permit in the 1950s, 6 in the 1960s, 32 in the 1970s, 42 in the 1980s, 67 in the 1990s, 63 in the 2000s, 43 in the 2010s, and 21 in the 2020s. It therefore does not demonstrate that the water table is dropping. Ask for a measured static level and recovery information from any existing well.

Silver Plume permits span decades, with several active drillers

The oldest permit in this local record dates to the 1950s, and the newest was issued in 2025. Domestic and household wells make up 61% of the use mix. Monitoring wells account for 25%, while stock wells account for 4% and irrigation wells 2%. The records also include many older permits, so confirm that a well on a property was actually constructed, properly permitted, and approved for its intended use.

The most frequent driller names in the records are Authorized (Pe, Pg), with 26 wells, followed by Mcpherson Drilling Company (Mcpherson, Benny Don) and James Drilling (Keaton, Jordan K.), with 12 each. These are permit-record names, not a recommendation. A driller should review access, casing and grout requirements, the proposed well location, and the water right before work begins.

What a new well can cost around Silver Plume

Local drilling conditions are fractured mountain bedrock, including granite and gneiss. The stated drilling rate is $65 to $100 per foot. At the 60-foot median depth, the drilled hole models to about $3,900 to $6,000.

A finished system with pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is modeled at about $9,900 to $18,000 at that median depth. A deeper hole can move outside that range, and the total may also change with difficult access, casing and grout needs, rock conditions, and the distance from the well to the building. Get a written bid that separates drilling from the pump, storage, electrical, trenching, and any required road or site work.

Mine history and mountain conditions deserve a careful check

The mapped area within about 10 miles includes 5 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 1,276 historic mine features, and 14 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. Those mapped features do not prove that a particular well is contaminated, but they are strong reasons to review environmental records and test water rather than relying only on appearance or taste.

Low yield and dry holes remain possible in fractured bedrock even where nearby wells perform well. Before buying, inspect the well construction, pump test, static water level, water-quality results, and any treatment equipment. Also confirm septic setbacks, usable building area, and access for a drill rig. A good water source does not solve a lot that cannot support a permitted septic system or practical construction access.

Use nearby wells to plan, not to promise, your result

Start with the DWR permit records for Silver Plume and compare them with wells in Georgetown, Empire, Downieville-Lawson-Dumont, St. Mary's, Montezuma, and Idaho Springs. The closest useful comparison is usually a nearby well with similar geology, construction date, depth, and intended use—not simply the closest point on a map.

For a vacant lot, confirm the water-right position and the type of permit available before choosing a house plan. In an over-appropriated basin, an augmentation plan may be required. For an existing home, have the well and pump inspected, collect a current water sample, and verify that the recorded well matches the equipment and location on the ground. Price the full system and site work before treating the property as build-ready.

Well permits by decade near Silver Plume

What a new well costs in Silver Plume, 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 (118 ft) would run roughly $13,670–$23,800. 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 Silver Plume? 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 Silver Plume 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 Silver Plume

Keep researching

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