Snowmass, Colorado Well Depths, Yields, and Costs

How deep are wells around Snowmass?

How much water do wells make near Snowmass?

Snowmass well depth: shallow records, hard-rock variability

Snowmass wells have a recorded median depth of 86 feet. The middle half is between 54 and 160 feet, while the ninetieth percentile reaches 300 feet. The deepest well in the records is 758 feet. That spread matters when a driller prepares a bid: a typical estimate may fit a shallow hole, but a difficult fractured-bedrock site can require substantially more drilling.

Of the recorded wells, 56% are under 100 feet, 34% are between 100 and 300 feet, and 10% are between 300 and 600 feet. Only 1% are deeper than 600 feet. Most permits identify an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer, with far fewer wells in Mancos or alluvial aquifers.

How much water can a Snowmass well produce?

The reported median well yield near Snowmass is 15.0 gallons per minute, with the middle half from 12.0 to 15.0 gallons per minute. About 70% of wells with yield information report more than 15 gallons per minute, while 26% report between 5 and 15 gallons per minute. Only 3% fall between 1 and 5 gallons per minute, and none are recorded below 1 gallon per minute.

That is a strong local record, but the yield sample includes only 296 wells, not every permit. A good reported yield does not remove the need for a pump test, storage planning, and confirmation that the permitted use fits the home, livestock, irrigation, or other proposed demand. Household-use wells still have Colorado water-right and permit requirements.

Snowmass water levels and the recent reading

Among the 75 wells reporting a static water level, the median depth to water is 38 feet. The middle half is from 18 to 67 feet below the surface. That is useful when estimating pump placement and initial site work, but water levels can vary with location, season, weather, pumping, and the local fracture network.

The decade series shows median readings of 25 feet in the 1990s, 26 feet in the 2010s, and 43 feet in the 2020s. The newer measurements are therefore deeper, which may indicate a change in measured water levels, but the sample is limited and does not prove a basin-wide declining water table. Ask for the original well logs and recent measurements for the specific property.

Snowmass permit history and the drillers in the records

Permit activity was highest in the 1990s, with 329 permits, followed by 267 in the 2000s. The records include 121 permits from the 2010s and 79 from the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2025. Across the search area, DWR records contain 1,280 wells, with 625 recorded as constructed and 760 reporting a total depth.

The most active names in these records are Shelton Drilling Corporation, with 412 wells; Collins Drilling Co, listed as Collins, F. E. “Bodie,” with 151; and Steve Shelton Drilling, Inc., listed as Shelton, Steve, with 115. These counts describe permit history, not current availability or a recommendation. Confirm licensing, insurance, scope, and the conditions included in any current proposal.

What a new Snowmass well may cost

The local cost model assumes fractured mountain bedrock, including granite and gneiss. The modeled drilling rate is $65 to $100 per foot. At the median depth of 86 feet, the drilled hole is estimated at about $5,600 to $8,600. A finished well, including pump, tank, trenching, and electrical, is modeled at about $11,600 to $20,600.

Those figures are planning numbers, not a guaranteed quote. The deepest local record is 758 feet, so depth risk can be significant even though most recorded wells are shallower. Ask a driller to separate drilling, casing, grout, pump equipment, electrical work, trenching, water testing, and permits. A bid should also explain what happens if the hole is dry or the first water-bearing fracture does not provide an acceptable yield.

Snowmass water-quality, septic, and building checks

Mapped environmental information within about ten miles includes 11 PFAS sampling or contamination sites and 1 historic mine feature. There are no EPA Superfund or cleanup sites in the mapped facts. These locations do not establish contamination at a particular parcel, but they are a reason to test the well rather than assume mountain water is automatically safe.

Low yield and dry holes remain possible in fractured granite or gneiss even when nearby wells perform well. Before building, confirm the well permit, production test, static level, casing and grout details, and laboratory water results. Check the proposed septic area separately: soil, slope, setbacks, reserve-area requirements, and available room for the house, driveway, and utility trenches can control what can actually be built.

Buying or building near Woody Creek and Snowmass

Use the records from Snowmass, Woody Creek, Basalt, Snowmass Village, El Jebel, Aspen, and Catherine as a starting point for local comparisons, while giving the closest wells the most weight. The database has 1,280 permits, but only 296 report a pump yield and 75 report a static water level. Missing data is not proof of a problem, but it means a buyer should obtain the original documents instead of relying on a map summary.

For an existing home, verify the permit, well construction report, pump test, water quality, storage, and actual household performance. For vacant land, make the well and septic investigations part of due diligence before closing. In an over-appropriated basin, an augmentation plan may be necessary for some uses. A Colorado DWR review can clarify the permit and water-right restrictions before you commit to a building design.

Well permits by decade near Snowmass

What a new well costs in Snowmass, 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 (160 ft) would run roughly $16,400–$28,000. 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 Snowmass? 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 Snowmass 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 Snowmass

Keep researching

More in Pitkin County

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

Nearby areas