Somerset Colorado Well Depth, Yield, and Cost

How deep are wells around Somerset?

How much water do wells make near Somerset?

Somerset well depth depends on the mountain bedrock

Somerset’s recorded well depth is shallow by mountain-well standards at the middle of the data: the median is 80 feet, and the middle half runs from 50 to 150 feet. Still, the range is wide. Fifty-eight percent of reported depths are under 100 feet, 33% fall from 100 to 300 feet, 7% from 300 to 600 feet, and 1% are deeper than 600 feet. The deepest well on record is 720 feet.

That spread matters when comparing drilling bids. A bid based only on the median can be misleading if the lot sits over harder or less productive fractured granite or gneiss. Ask the driller how the price changes if the hole must go beyond the planned depth, and confirm what casing, grout, testing, and pump work are included.

Reported Somerset yields are strong, but the sample is small

The reported yield data is encouraging: the median is 13.0 gallons per minute, with the middle half between 9.8 and 15.0 gallons per minute. Forty-four percent of reporting wells produce 15 or more gallons per minute, and another 44% report 5 to 15 gallons per minute. Twelve percent report 1 to 5 gallons per minute, while none of the reporting wells are under 1 gallon per minute.

Do not treat those percentages as a guarantee. Only 16 wells report a pump yield, compared with 64 recorded as constructed. A well’s usable supply also depends on storage, pump sizing, and the home’s demand. An exempt household-use well has a 35 gpm pumping limit, but a buyer still needs to confirm the permit’s allowed use and conditions with Colorado DWR.

Somerset water levels are relatively shallow in the records

Eleven Somerset-area permits report a static water level. The median depth to water is 43 feet, and the middle half runs from 23 to 88 feet. That gives a useful starting point for estimating pumping lift and discussing casing and pump placement, but it is not a site-wide water-table measurement.

The available facts do not provide a water-level series by decade, so they do not establish a dropping or rising trend. Static levels can vary with season, nearby pumping, recharge, and the exact fractured-bedrock zone a well reaches. Before buying, ask for the original well construction and test records for nearby parcels and have a driller interpret them in relation to the lot’s elevation and geology.

Somerset permit history points to several local drilling records

Permit activity is spread across the local history, with the largest period in the records during the 1990s: 65 permits. The records show 12 permits in the 1970s, 2 in the 1980s, 27 in the 2000s, 16 in the 2010s, and 18 in the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2025.

The most active named drillers in these records are Authorized (Pe, Pg), with 22 wells; Wildcat Drilling & Pump, Inc. (Kissner, Billy D.), with 17; and Bill Kissner Drilling Inc (Kissner, Bill F.), with 13. Those counts describe permit records, not a current recommendation or proof that a company is available. Check licensing, insurance, references, and the scope of the written bid.

A Somerset well can cost more when drilling goes deep

For fractured mountain bedrock such as granite or gneiss, the drilling model is $65 to $100 per foot. At the 80-foot median depth, the drilled hole works out to about $5,200 to $8,000. A finished system, including the pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical work, is modeled at about $11,200 to $20,000.

That is a planning range, not a fixed quote. The deepest record reaches 720 feet, so an unsuccessful or extended hole can change the budget substantially. Get the contractor to separate drilling from casing, grout, pump, tank, trenching, electrical, water testing, and abandonment or dry-hole terms. Steep access and construction around an existing home can also affect the proposal.

Check mines, PFAS sites, septic space, and dry-hole risk

Within about 10 miles of Somerset, the mapped environmental information includes 13 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 38 historic mine features, and 1 EPA Superfund or cleanup site. A map flag does not by itself prove that a parcel’s well water is contaminated, but it is a reason to investigate site history and test the water. Historic mining can also complicate access, ground conditions, and water-quality questions.

Low yield and dry holes remain possible in fractured bedrock even when nearby wells perform well. Before building, confirm that the proposed well location leaves workable room for septic components, replacement areas, drive access, and the house foundation. The water right and permit must match the intended use; over-appropriated basins may require an augmentation plan for some uses.

Use nearby Somerset permits before you commit to a lot

Start with the Colorado DWR permit and construction records for the parcel and surrounding wells, then compare depth, aquifer description, static water level, yield, and use. The local records are dominated by unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifers: 166 wells are identified that way. Only 3 name the Mesa Verde aquifer, 1 names the Mesa Verde Group, and none are Denver Basin aquifer wells.

For a vacant lot, make the well location part of the site plan rather than treating it as an afterthought. Price access for a rig, confirm where drilling spoils can go, protect separation from septic work, and budget for a pump and storage system. If the property is near Paonia, Hotchkiss, Crawford, Marble, Lazear, or Redstone, use those areas only as broader context; the closest well records and the parcel’s own permit matter most.

Well permits by decade near Somerset

What a new well costs in Somerset, 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 (150 ft) would run roughly $15,750–$27,000. 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 Somerset? 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 Somerset 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 Somerset

Keep researching

More in Gunnison County

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

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