Colorado Well Finder › Wells by county › Kit Carson County › Stratton
Buying land or a home near Stratton means understanding what the local well records can and cannot tell you. Permitted wells within five miles show a generally productive plains setting, with a median reported depth of 238 feet and a median reported yield of 20.0 gallons per minute. Most wells reach the Ogallala or an unnamed fractured-bedrock aquifer. The records include older stock, irrigation, and household wells, so the right comparison depends on the intended use of the property.
This page uses Colorado DWR permit records and local cost assumptions for Stratton, with nearby context from Vona, Bethune, Seibert, Burlington, Kirk, and Flagler.
Figures are computed from Colorado Division of Water Resources permit records for permitted wells within 5 miles of Stratton. Not every permit reports every field; each statistic uses the wells that report it.
| Depth statistic | Feet |
|---|---|
| 25th percentile | 200 |
| Median | 238 |
| 75th percentile | 250 |
| 90th percentile | 262 |
| Deepest on record | 1,498 |
| Aquifer named on permits | Wells |
|---|---|
| unnamed / fractured-bedrock aquifer | 200 |
| Ogallala | 153 |
| High Plains Aquifer | 4 |
| Yield statistic | gpm |
|---|---|
| 25th percentile | 15.0 |
| Median | 20.0 |
| 75th percentile | 48.5 |
| Median depth to water | 181 ft |
| Median water level by decade | Depth to water |
|---|---|
| 1960s | 176 ft |
Stratton-area wells are usually moderate-depth wells. The median reported depth is 238 feet, and the middle half runs from 200 to 250 feet. That narrow range is useful when reviewing a drilling bid: a proposal near that interval fits the local record, while a much deeper allowance deserves an explanation about the site, aquifer target, or construction plan.
Nearly all reported wells fall between 100 and 300 feet. The deepest record reaches 1,498 feet, so local conditions are not identical on every parcel. Permits name the Ogallala on 153 wells and an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer on 200. Plains sedimentary rock and alluvial materials are the cost basis here, but a driller still has to confirm the formation at the actual lot.
Reported yields are strong overall, but the sample is smaller than the depth record: 87 wells report a pump yield. The median is 20.0 gallons per minute, with the middle half from 15.0 to 48.5 gallons per minute. That is generally more than enough production for a typical household, subject to the permit’s use limits, storage, pump sizing, and water quality.
The local record shows 89% of reported wells at 15 or more gallons per minute, 10% from 5 to 15, and 1% from 1 to 5. No reported well is under 1 gallon per minute. These figures are encouraging, but they are not a guarantee for an unbuilt lot. Ask for the well test, pump setting, recovery information, and permitted use before treating a nearby yield as your expected supply.
Only 17 wells report a static water level, so the water-level sample is limited. Among those records, the median depth to water is 181 feet, with the middle half from 171 to 196 feet. A buyer should use that information as a planning reference, not as a precise prediction for a new hole.
The permit history does not by itself establish a reliable long-term decline or rise in the water table. The records span the 1960s through the 2020s, but the available static measurements are too few to support a trend conclusion. Have a driller evaluate the site and ask for current neighboring water-level information. Static water level also affects pump design, electrical requirements, and the cost of getting water from the well to the house.
Stratton has a long permit history. The records show permits from the 1950s through the 2020s, with the newest permit year listed as 2026. Activity was highest in the 2000s, when 52 permits were issued in the data, compared with 41 in the 1990s and 14 in the 2020s. Permit counts are not the same as completed wells, so they should not be read as current market share.
The most active names in these records are Schaal Drilling Co. (Schaal, Ruben T.) with 69 wells, Parrish Drilling (Parrish, Wayne) with 22, and Klassen Drilling (Klassen, Paul C) with 11. Contact current licensed drillers for access review, a site-specific estimate, casing and grout details, pump sizing, and a realistic dry-hole or insufficient-yield plan.
For Stratton’s alluvium and plains sedimentary rock, the modeled drilling rate is $35 to $55 per foot. At the local median depth of 238 feet, that places the drilled hole at about $8,300 to $13,100. This is the hole only, not the complete water system.
A finished well with pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is modeled at about $14,300 to $25,100. The final bid can move with access, casing and grout requirements, pump depth, power availability, trench length, and whether the hole must go deeper than the local norm. Compare bids line by line. Confirm what testing, permits, abandonment protection, electrical work, and connection to the proposed home are included rather than comparing only the per-foot figure.
Yield is a favorable part of the local record, but the database still has gaps: 147 wells are recorded as constructed, 207 report total depth, and 87 report pump yield. A permit or a nearby productive well does not guarantee the same result on your parcel. Fractured-bedrock conditions can be unpredictable, and a dry hole or low-yield result remains a construction risk even in a strong area.
Water quality deserves separate attention. Five PFAS sampling or contamination sites are mapped within about ten miles, with no historic mine features and no EPA Superfund or cleanup sites listed. Test an existing well before purchase and test a new well after construction. Check septic setbacks, soil conditions, building access, and the space needed for a septic system, driveway, utilities, and future repairs. DWR rules control the permitted use; an exempt household-use well is not unrestricted, and the general exempt-well pumping limit is 35 gallons per minute.
Start with the exact parcel, not a countywide assumption. Pull the DWR permit, well construction report, pump test, water-quality results, and recorded use for the property. Compare those documents with neighboring wells in Stratton, Vona, Bethune, Seibert, Burlington, Kirk, and Flagler where relevant. The local depth and yield statistics support a reasonable feasibility conversation, but they do not replace a site-specific review.
For a vacant lot, make the well location, drilling access, septic area, driveway route, and electrical path part of the early layout. Ask a driller for a written bid based on the local 200-to-250-foot middle range, while allowing for deeper conditions. If the parcel is in an over-appropriated basin, confirm whether an augmentation plan or another water-right arrangement is required. Make the purchase contract contingent on satisfactory water quantity, quality, and legal-use review.
| Decade permitted | Wells |
|---|---|
| 1950s | 1 |
| 1960s | 17 |
| 1970s | 28 |
| 1980s | 22 |
| 1990s | 41 |
| 2000s | 52 |
| 2010s | 13 |
| 2020s | 14 |
| Most active drillers on record | Wells |
|---|---|
| Schaal Drilling Co. (Schaal, Ruben T.) | 69 |
| Parrish Drilling (Parrish, Wayne) | 22 |
| Klassen Drilling (Klassen, Paul C) | 11 |
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 (250 ft) would run roughly $14,750–$25,750. See the full Colorado well cost guide.
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.
The numbers above are the area average. Your lot is one point on the map. Search the address to see the real depth, yield and aquifer of each permitted well around it.
Map wells near StrattonTri-Lakes Contracting is a licensed Colorado contractor serving Stratton and the surrounding plains. They handle access driveways, site development, new-build septic systems, and custom homes.
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A listing photo can't tell you whether a lot is a dream or a money pit. Two parcels near Stratton 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.
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.
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The median reported well depth within five miles of Stratton is 238 feet. The middle half runs from 200 to 250 feet, and 98% of reported depths are between 100 and 300 feet. The deepest record is 1,498 feet, so a site-specific bid can still differ substantially from the local norm.
The modeled drilling rate for Stratton’s alluvium and plains sedimentary rock is $35 to $55 per foot. At the 238-foot median depth, the drilled hole is estimated at $8,300 to $13,100. A finished system with pump, tank, trenching, and electrical is modeled at $14,300 to $25,100.
Among the 87 local wells that report a pump yield, the median is 20.0 gallons per minute. The middle half produces 15.0 to 48.5 gallons per minute. Reported yields show 89% at 15 or more gallons per minute, but a neighboring well does not guarantee the same result on a new parcel.
Safety cannot be determined from well depth or yield. Five PFAS sampling or contamination sites are mapped within about ten miles of Stratton, so test an existing well before buying and test a new well after construction. Review the complete laboratory report and use a qualified professional to interpret results for household drinking water.
The available records do not establish a dependable rise or decline. Only 17 wells report static water levels. Their median depth to water is 181 feet, with the middle half from 171 to 196 feet. Those measurements are useful for planning, but too limited to prove a long-term trend at a specific Stratton property.
All wells in Kit Carson County — county-wide depth, yield and cost figures.
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