Vilas, Colorado Well Depth, Yield, and Cost

How deep are wells around Vilas?

How much water do wells make near Vilas?

Vilas well depths: plan around 300 feet

The median recorded well depth near Vilas is 300 feet. The middle half runs from 260 to 345 feet, which is the most useful range when asking a driller for an early budget. A 300-foot estimate is not a promise, but it gives a practical starting point for a typical bid in this area.

Depths vary substantially. Forty-four percent of reported wells are 100-300 feet, while 48% are 300-600 feet. Eight percent reach 600 feet or more, and the deepest record is 2,340 feet. The mix reflects different uses and locations, including irrigation wells and wells in alluvium or sedimentary rock. Before buying, compare permits near the exact lot, not just the Vilas-wide median.

High reported yields need the right interpretation

Among the 77 wells reporting a pump yield, the median is 800.0 gallons per minute, with the middle half from 600.0 to 1,000.0 gallons per minute. Ninety-seven percent of those reported yields are 15+ gallons per minute. No reported well is under 1 gallon per minute or in the 1-5 gallon-per-minute range, and 3% are in the 5-15 range.

Those figures are dominated by the area’s use mix: 74% of permits are for irrigation, compared with 10% domestic or household and 12% stock. Do not treat an irrigation yield as a guaranteed household supply. A new exempt household-use well has a 35-gallon-per-minute pumping limit, and its permitted use still matters.

The limited water-level record near Vilas

Only 8 wells report a static water level, so the local water-level sample is thin. In those records, the median depth to water is 225 feet, with the middle half from 134 to 290 feet. That is a planning reference for pump setting and construction, not a dependable prediction for an untested parcel.

The supplied records do not provide a water-level series by decade, so they do not establish that the water table is dropping or stable. A driller should evaluate the formation and nearby completed wells at the proposed location. Ask for the static level after the well rests, because pumping conditions and a static measurement answer different questions.

Permit history and drillers showing up around Vilas

Permit activity is concentrated in the older record. The DWR list shows 23 permits from the 1950s, 102 from the 1960s, 32 from the 1970s, 7 from the 1980s, 6 from the 1990s, 25 from the 2000s, 28 from the 2010s, and 12 from the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2024, so this is not only a historical dataset.

The most active named drillers in these records are Ralph'S Welding (Woods, Ralph R), with 17 wells; S. E. Camp Drilling (Camp, S E), with 14; and Great Plains Drilling (Tweedy, Willis E), with 12. Permit history helps identify local experience, but confirm current licensing, availability, casing, grout, testing, and final construction details before hiring.

What a new well may cost in Vilas

For Vilas ground described as alluvium and plains sedimentary rock, the drilling rate model is $35-$55 per foot. At the 300-foot median depth, the drilled hole comes to about $10,500-$16,500. That is the hole only, not the complete water system.

A finished well with pump, tank, trenching, and electrical is modeled at about $16,500-$28,500 at that median depth. A 345-foot well, a 600-foot well, difficult access, extra casing, or an unexpected formation can move the price higher. Ask each bidder to separate drilling, casing and grout, pump equipment, electrical, trenching, testing, and any permit-related work so competing bids describe the same scope.

Checks beyond depth: water quality, yield, and the lot

Mapped environmental records within about 10 miles include 9 PFAS sampling or contamination sites and 3 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. There are 0 historic mine features in that mapped search. These records do not prove a problem on a particular parcel, but they are a reason to check the property and test the finished well for contaminants relevant to the site.

Low yield and dry holes remain possible even where nearby records look strong, especially because permits name unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer conditions in 140 wells. Cheyenne appears on 62 permits and Dakota on 50; Denver Basin aquifer wells are 0%. Confirm septic setbacks, building envelopes, access for a rig, trench routes, and the intended household use before committing to a lot.

A practical buying plan for Vilas and nearby plains communities

Start with the exact parcel and pull neighboring permits, construction records, reported depths, yields, and water levels. Compare the property with records toward Walsh, 9 miles away, Springfield, 10 miles away, and Two Buttes, 13 miles away only as wider context; the closest wells usually deserve the most attention. Records near Campo, Pritchett, and Granada can show broader regional conditions but should not replace local verification.

For a build, have a licensed Colorado driller review the proposed well location before finalizing the house site. Confirm whether the permit is domestic, stock, or irrigation, and ask how the plan handles casing, grout, pump sizing, storage, electrical, and testing. If the basin is over-appropriated, ask Colorado DWR about augmentation requirements before assuming a new use is available.

Well permits by decade near Vilas

What a new well costs in Vilas, 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 (345 ft) would run roughly $18,075–$30,975. 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 Vilas? 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 Vilas 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 Vilas

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

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