Sterling Ranch, Colorado Well Depth, Yield and Cost

How deep are wells around Sterling Ranch?

How much water do wells make near Sterling Ranch?

Sterling Ranch well depths vary sharply across the area

The median reported depth near Sterling Ranch is 105 feet, but that number hides substantial variation. The middle half of wells runs from 40 to 440 feet. Nearly half, 48%, are under 100 feet, while 21% fall between 300 and 600 feet and 15% are deeper than 600 feet.

The deepest recorded well reaches 2,668 feet. That does not mean a new well will need to approach that depth. It does mean a driller should price the job from local logs and the target aquifer, not from the median alone. Permits name the Denver Basin on 62% of wells, with other records identifying fractured bedrock, Denver, or Arapahoe aquifers.

What Sterling Ranch wells produce

Reported pump yields are generally favorable. The median is 12.0 gallons per minute, and the middle half is between 10.0 and 15.0 gallons per minute. The largest group, 64%, produces between 5 and 15 gallons per minute, while 33% report more than 15 gallons per minute.

Only 2% report between 1 and 5 gallons per minute, and none are recorded under 1 gallon per minute. That is encouraging for household planning, but production is not the same as storage or water quality. Ask for the well-construction report, pumping test, casing and grout details, and any restrictions tied to the permit.

Water levels show a lower recorded depth in newer decades

The overall median static water level is 180 feet below the surface, with the middle half ranging from 22 to 328 feet. Measurements by decade show 209 feet in the 1980s, 44 feet in the 2010s, and 38 feet in the 2020s.

That series does not suggest a dropping water table in the recorded measurements; the reported depth to water is shallower in the newer decades. Treat the comparison carefully because the wells and measurement locations may differ. Before buying, have a professional confirm the static level at the property and check whether the well can meet the planned household, stock, or irrigation use.

Sterling Ranch permit history and local drillers

Permit activity was strongest in the 1990s, with 926 permits, followed by 692 in the 1980s and 580 in the 2000s. Records include 353 permits from the 2010s and 65 from the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2025, so this is not an area with only historic well construction.

Among the most active names in the records are Hier Drilling Co Inc, also listed as Hier, Bruce A., with 507 records; Authorized, listed as Pe, Pg, with 310; and Arrow Drilling Co., listed as Berglund, Paul R., with 227. Confirm current licensing, availability, and scope directly before hiring.

A Sterling Ranch well may cost more than the median-depth estimate

The local cost model uses a typical drilling rate of $50 to $70 per foot in Denver Basin sedimentary bedrock. At the 105-foot median depth, the drilled hole is estimated at about $5,200 to $7,400. That is only the drilling portion, not a ready-to-use water system.

A finished well including the pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is estimated at about $11,200 to $19,400 at the median depth. A lot requiring a deeper hole can exceed that range. Get a written bid that separates drilling, casing, grout, pump equipment, waterline trenching, electrical work, testing, and permit-related work. The wide local depth range makes allowances especially important.

Environmental and construction checks before you commit

Nearby well production looks solid overall, but a buyer still needs property-specific checks. Mapped environmental records within about 10 miles include 70 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 17 historic mine features, and 9 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. Those records do not prove a particular parcel is contaminated, but they justify water testing and a review of local site history.

Also confirm separation from septic components, the proposed building location, access for a drill rig, and room for the pressure tank and treatment equipment. A permitted domestic well is not automatically suitable for every proposed use. If production is poor or a hole is dry, the cost and permitting consequences can be substantial.

Buying or building near Louviers and Roxborough Park

Use the nearby records as a starting point, then narrow the comparison to wells close to the parcel. Louviers and Roxborough Park are each about 3 miles away, while Highlands Ranch is about 5 miles away. Sedalia, Columbine, and Ken Caryl provide additional regional context, but geology and aquifer conditions can change across short distances.

Before closing, obtain the DWR permit and construction report, verify the permitted use, ask for recent water-quality and production information, and have a driller review neighboring depths. For a new build, coordinate the well, driveway, septic system, utility trenching, and house site before excavation. In an over-appropriated basin, confirm whether an augmentation plan or other water-rights requirement applies.

Well permits by decade near Sterling Ranch

What a new well costs in Sterling Ranch, 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 (440 ft) would run roughly $28,000–$42,800. 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 Sterling Ranch? 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 Sterling Ranch 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 Sterling Ranch

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

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