Valdez, Colorado Well Depths, Yields, and Costs

How deep are wells around Valdez?

How much water do wells make near Valdez?

What Valdez well depths look like

Reported Valdez wells have a median depth of 300 feet. The middle half falls from 118 to 480 feet, and the 90th percentile reaches 606 feet. The deepest record is 1,000 feet. That spread matters when comparing drilling bids: a price based only on the median may not cover a hole that follows the deeper local pattern.

Depths are mixed across the area. Eighteen percent are under 100 feet, 30% fall from 100 to 300 feet, 39% fall from 300 to 600 feet, and 12% are 600 feet or deeper. The ground is described as alluvium and plains sedimentary rock, while permits most often name an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer. Fractured rock can be unpredictable over short distances, so a nearby shallow well is not a guarantee for a new lot.

How much water Valdez wells produce

The reported yield median is 3.3 gallons per minute, with the middle half from 1.5 to 6.5 gallons per minute. Fifty-two percent of reported yields are from 1 to 5 gallons per minute, 36% from 5 to 15, 4% above 15, and 8% under 1. These figures describe tested or reported well performance, not a promise for an unbuilt well.

A yield around the local median can support ordinary household use when the pressure system and storage are designed properly, but a buyer should not equate a modest pumping rate with unlimited water. Ask for the well yield, recovery information, pump size, and intended use. Colorado exempt household-use wells are generally limited to household purposes and the applicable pumping rules, including the 35-gpm exempt-well limit.

Valdez water levels and what the records show

Only 4 Valdez-area records report a static water level, so the water-level sample is small. Among those records, the median depth to water is 277 feet, and the middle half runs from 226 to 399 feet. That is useful for thinking about pump setting and construction, but it is not enough evidence to establish a broad water-table trend.

The permit history also does not provide a decade-by-decade static-water-level series. In practical terms, the available facts do not show that the water table is rising or dropping across Valdez. Have a driller review neighboring completion reports and measure an existing well when possible. A well with adequate production can still require substantial pumping equipment if the water level is deep.

Who has drilled around Valdez, and when

Permit activity is concentrated in recent decades. The records list 7 permits from the 1950s, 3 from the 1960s, 4 from the 1970s, 2 from the 1980s, 83 from the 1990s, 36 from the 2000s, 456 from the 2010s, and 5 from the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2025.

Boday Well Drilling appears most often under Alex Boday, with 40 records, and under Kathleen Boday, with 24. Owner-listed drilling accounts for 18 records. These names show who appears in the permit history, not necessarily who is available or appropriate for a current job. Before relying on an old well, pull the Colorado Division of Water Resources permit and construction record, then confirm the current pump, casing, grout, production, and legal use.

What a new Valdez well may cost

For Valdez's alluvium and plains sedimentary rock, the local drilling model uses about $35 to $55 per foot. At the 300-foot median depth, the drilled hole alone models to roughly $10,500 to $16,500. That is a planning range, not a fixed quote; depth, casing, grout, access, water conditions, and site logistics can move the final number.

A finished system including the pump, tank, trenching, and electrical is modeled at about $16,500 to $28,500 at the median depth. Ask whether a bid includes mobilization, permit work, casing, grout, development, testing, electrical service, and connection to the house. A deeper-than-typical hole or difficult access near Cokedale, Segundo, or other surrounding areas can require a revised estimate.

Risks to check before buying or building

Low yield is the main practical concern in this record set: 8% of reported yields are under 1 gallon per minute, while most fall in the 1-to-5-gpm range. Dry holes and weak fractures are possible concerns in fractured-bedrock settings, so review nearby wells rather than relying on one favorable record. Also confirm that the existing permit allows the use you plan.

Environmental review matters around Valdez. The mapped area within about 10 miles includes 220 PFAS sampling or contamination sites and 171 historic mine features. There are 0 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites in the supplied data, but that does not replace testing. Test raw well water for appropriate local concerns, and evaluate septic setbacks, soil, drainage, access for drilling equipment, and the proposed building location before closing or excavating.

A practical plan for a Valdez lot

Start with the parcel's legal water path. Search Colorado DWR records for the property and nearby wells, confirm the permit type and allowed uses, and obtain construction and pump information for any existing well. Compare several neighboring wells rather than using the 300-foot median or 3.3-gpm median as a guarantee.

For vacant land, get a driller to review access, likely depth, casing and grout requirements, pump setting, and the cost range before you make the purchase decision. Leave room for the well, septic system, house, driveway, and future repairs. If the lot is near Cokedale, Segundo, Jansen, Starkville, Trinidad, or Weston, use those areas as context only; the individual parcel and its geology control the result.

Well permits by decade near Valdez

What a new well costs in Valdez, 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 (480 ft) would run roughly $22,800–$38,400. 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 Valdez? 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 Valdez 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 Valdez

Keep researching

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

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