Southern Ute, Colorado Well Depth, Yield, and Cost

How deep are wells around Southern Ute?

How much water do wells make near Southern Ute?

Southern Ute well depths vary sharply by ground

The median reported well depth near Southern Ute is 200 feet. The middle half runs from 116 to 276 feet, so a bid based on roughly that interval is a reasonable starting point for ordinary ground, but not a promise. The deepest recorded well reaches 3,430 feet, and the 90th percentile is 2,765 feet. Those extreme records show why a single nearby well should not determine your budget.

Depth records also show that 59% of wells fall between 100 and 300 feet. Another 19% are under 100 feet, 9% are between 300 and 600 feet, and 13% exceed 600 feet. The aquifer name matters: 870 permits identify unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer conditions, where fractures can make results unpredictable. A driller should review neighboring completion reports before setting a target depth.

Most Southern Ute wells produce usable household flow

Among the 74 wells reporting pump yield, the median is 7.0 gallons per minute. The middle half produces 3.0 to 9.8 gallons per minute. That is generally a workable range for a household when the well, pressure tank, storage, and electrical system are properly sized.

Yield is not evenly distributed. The records show 61% between 5 and 15 gallons per minute, 23% between 1 and 5 gallons per minute, and 7% above 15 gallons per minute. Another 9% produce under 1 gallon per minute. A low-yield well may still serve a home with storage and careful scheduling, but it can affect lending, building plans, livestock use, and resale. Ask for the pump test rather than relying on the permit's intended use.

Southern Ute water levels are commonly shallow, but coverage is limited

Only 15 wells report a static water level, so this is a small sample rather than a complete groundwater trend. In those records, the median depth to water is 20 feet, with the middle half from 10 to 30 feet. That suggests water may be encountered relatively shallowly in some locations, but it does not establish the water level at a particular lot.

The permit history does not provide a decade-by-decade static-water series, so these facts cannot show a reliable dropping or rising water table. Fractured-bedrock wells can also vary over short distances. Have the driller compare nearby logs, measured water levels, casing and grout details, and the proposed well location before assuming that a shallow neighboring well will behave the same way.

Permit activity grew around Southern Ute, with several repeat drillers

Colorado DWR records show 971 permitted wells within the search area, with 646 recorded as constructed. Permit activity increased from 13 in the 1950s and 39 in the 1970s to 138 in the 1990s, 158 in the 2000s, and 442 in the 2010s. The newest permit year is 2025. This history gives buyers a useful pool of local records, although the records do not replace a current site evaluation.

The most active listed drillers are Dak Drilling LLC, associated with Rathjen, Doug, with 72 records; Mortimer Water Well Drilling, associated with Mortimer, Harry, with 67; and Beeman Bros Drilling Inc, associated with Beeman, J. L., with 44. Treat those names as local permit-history context, not a recommendation. Confirm current licensing, availability, insurance, and experience with your ground conditions.

A Southern Ute well budget starts near $10,000 and can climb

The cost model for mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground uses a typical drilling rate of $50 to $75 per foot. At the 200-foot median depth, the drilled hole is estimated at about $10,000 to $15,000. That is only the hole, not the complete water system.

A finished well including the pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical work is estimated at $16,000 to $27,000 at the median depth. A much deeper hole can move well beyond that range, and access, difficult casing or grout conditions, pump setting, and site layout can change the bid. Request a written estimate that separates drilling, casing, grouting, testing, pump equipment, trenching, electrical work, permits, and any dry-hole terms.

Check PFAS, septic separation, and dry-hole exposure before closing

Environmental review deserves attention near Southern Ute. The mapped area within about 10 miles includes 39 PFAS sampling or contamination sites. It has 0 historic mine features and 0 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites in the supplied records. A map point does not prove that a property is contaminated, but buyers should ask for available sampling results and test the well water through a qualified laboratory, especially before purchase or occupancy.

Low yield and dry holes remain practical risks, particularly where permits identify fractured bedrock. Confirm the proposed well location can meet Colorado setbacks from the house, septic system, property lines, and other contamination sources. Septic design, driveway access, building pad location, and utility trenching should be planned together. A well that works on paper may not work economically if the site cannot accommodate the pump, tank, septic field, or construction equipment.

Use the nearby records to plan your Southern Ute lot

Before buying, collect well permits and construction reports for the closest comparable properties, then compare depth, aquifer description, casing, static water level, yield, and intended use. Records near Ignacio, 4 miles away, may be more useful than a result from Bayfield, 11 miles away, or Durango, 20 miles away, but geology can still change across a short distance. Arboles, 10 miles away, and other nearby areas can broaden the comparison when local records are sparse.

For a new build, make the well location, septic layout, access road, electrical route, and house site part of one feasibility review. Colorado DWR permits control the legal well use. Exempt household-use wells have a 35-gallon-per-minute pumping limit, and an over-appropriated basin may require an augmentation plan. Get the water-right and construction questions answered before spending on plans or excavation.

Well permits by decade near Southern Ute

What a new well costs in Southern Ute, 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 (276 ft) would run roughly $19,800–$32,700. 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 Southern Ute? 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 Southern Ute 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 Southern Ute

Keep researching

More in La Plata County

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

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