Walsenburg Colorado Well and Drilling Guide

How deep are wells around Walsenburg?

How much water do wells make near Walsenburg?

Walsenburg well depth depends on the local bedrock

The reported median well depth near Walsenburg is 30 feet, and the middle half runs from 20 to 100 feet. That shallow median should not be treated as a guaranteed drilling target. The record reaches 400 feet at the 90th percentile and 1,838 feet at the deepest recorded well. About 74% of reported wells are under 100 feet, while 11% fall in the 100-to-300-foot range, another 11% in the 300-to-600-foot range, and 4% exceed 600 feet.

Most permits name an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer: 564 wells do so. In fractured granite and gneiss, water can travel through separate fractures rather than a uniform layer. For a bid, ask the driller to explain the price per foot, casing and grout assumptions, and what happens if the first hole does not produce.

What Walsenburg wells produce for a household

Among the 49 wells reporting pump yield, the median is 8.0 gallons per minute, with the middle half from 4.0 to 10.5 gallons per minute. The distribution is generally encouraging for ordinary household use: 63% report 5 to 15 gallons per minute, 24% report 1 to 5, and 10% report more than 15. Only 2% report under 1 gallon per minute.

These are reported well yields, not a promise for an unbuilt well or proof of sustained household supply. A buyer should ask how the yield was measured and request the well construction and pump records. A low-producing well may still serve a home with adequate storage, while a higher reported yield does not remove the need for water-quality testing and maintenance planning.

The recorded water level shows a change worth investigating

The overall median static water level is 22 feet below surface, with the middle half from 10 to 144 feet. The decade figures show a substantial difference: the median measured level was 10 feet below surface in the 2010s and 164 feet below surface in the 2020s.

That pattern suggests the recorded water table or measured well levels may be deeper in the newer decade, but it is not enough by itself to prove a basin-wide decline. Only 31 wells report static water level, and the wells may differ in location, construction, aquifer, and measurement conditions. Before buying, compare nearby well logs and ask for a current measurement from the property well. A driller or water professional can help determine whether the change reflects local fractures, pumping, seasonal conditions, or a broader trend.

Permit history shows continued activity near Walsenburg

Colorado DWR records show permits from the 1960s through the 2020s, with the newest permit year listed as 2025. Permit counts were 5 in the 1960s, 6 in the 1970s, 11 in the 1980s, 107 in the 1990s, 125 in the 2000s, 174 in the 2010s, and 64 in the 2020s. The totals describe permits issued by decade, not necessarily completed wells or currently operating systems.

The most active names in these records are Authorized (Pe, Pg), with 203 records, Timber Line Drilling (Pfaffenhauser, Robert G.) with 32, and Boday Well Drilling (Boday, Kathleen) with 24. Confirm current licensing, availability, insurance, and the scope of work directly before selecting a contractor. A permit record also does not confirm that a particular well is legal for every intended use.

Budgeting a new well in Walsenburg

The local cost model assumes fractured mountain bedrock, including granite and gneiss, at roughly $65 to $100 per foot. At the 30-foot median depth, the drilled hole is estimated at about $2,000 to $3,000. That is only the drilling portion. A finished system with pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is estimated at about $8,000 to $15,000.

Depth is the largest obvious variable, but access, casing, grout, drilling conditions, water storage, electrical distance, and difficult fractures can change the final bid. Ask for a written allowance for each item and clarify whether testing, permit work, abandonment of a dry hole, and site restoration are included. The deepest recorded well is 1,838 feet, showing why a median-based budget should not be treated as a ceiling.

Check water quality, mining history, and the building site

Mapped environmental information within about 10 miles includes 5 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 88 historic mine features, and 1 EPA Superfund or cleanup site. Those flags do not prove that a particular parcel has contaminated water, but they justify testing based on the property location, well construction, and nearby land uses. Test before closing and use a qualified laboratory.

Low yield, an unsuccessful hole, or a deep water level can affect both cost and house design. Confirm the well permit, production capacity, water quality, and setback requirements before placing the house, septic system, driveway, or outbuildings. Septic soil conditions and separation from the well also matter. Ask the county and DWR about allowable household use, and remember that an exempt household-use well has a 35-gallon-per-minute pumping limit and may face water-right restrictions in an over-appropriated basin.

Well permits by decade near Walsenburg

What a new well costs in Walsenburg, 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 (100 ft) would run roughly $12,500–$22,000. 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 Walsenburg? 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 Walsenburg 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 Walsenburg

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

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