Wells in Ward, Colorado: Depth, Yield, and Cost

How deep are wells around Ward?

How much water do wells make near Ward?

Ward well depth follows fractured mountain rock

Ward wells have a median reported depth of 300 feet. The middle half runs from 126 to 438 feet, while the 90th percentile reaches 600 feet. The deepest recorded well is 1,428 feet. For a drilling bid, that spread matters more than the median alone: a contractor may need to price a substantially deeper hole if the first water-bearing fractures are not productive.

Depths are distributed across the area. Nineteen percent of reported wells are under 100 feet, 30% are 100 to 300 feet, 38% are 300 to 600 feet, and 13% exceed 600 feet. Permit records name unnamed fractured-bedrock aquifers for 638 wells, with only a few identifying Fractured Granite or Fractured Crystalline aquifers.

What Ward wells produce for a household

The median reported yield is 7.0 gallons per minute, with the middle half between 5.0 and 9.0 gallons per minute. That is a useful local benchmark for a home, but it is not a guarantee for an untested parcel. A yield test and storage system still determine how comfortably a house can handle peak demand.

Five percent of reported wells produce under 1 gallon per minute, 19% produce 1 to 5 gallons per minute, 68% produce 5 to 15 gallons per minute, and 8% produce more than 15 gallons per minute. The low-yield group is small but important. Ask for the well completion report, pump information, and any long-term production or recovery test.

Water levels show limited but important change

Only 29 wells in the records report a static water level, so the local water-level sample is much smaller than the depth and yield samples. Across those reports, the median depth to water is 50 feet, with the middle half from 18 to 100 feet below the surface.

The decade figures move from a median of 52 feet below surface in the 2010s to 72 feet in the 2020s. That suggests deeper measured water levels in the newer records, but it does not prove a broad groundwater decline because the sample is limited and measurements may come from different wells and conditions. Have a qualified professional measure the existing well before closing.

Permit history and drillers around Ward

Ward has a long permit record, with 661 wells in the Colorado DWR records and 405 recorded as constructed. Permits were issued in every decade listed: 7 in the 1950s, 10 in the 1960s, 109 in the 1970s, 95 in the 1980s, 130 in the 1990s, 97 in the 2000s, 69 in the 2010s, and 30 in the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2025.

The most active drillers in these records are Ground Water Systems Inc. (Wilson, Richard R.) with 151 permits, Ingram Drilling Inc. (Ingram, Stephen E.) with 73, and Norris & Sons (Norris, T A) with 25. Those records show local activity, not a guarantee of current availability or quality. Confirm licensing, scope, and references directly before hiring.

Estimated drilling cost in Ward's bedrock

Ward ground is fractured mountain bedrock, including granite and gneiss. The drilling model uses $65 to $100 per foot. At the 300-foot median depth, the drilled hole works out to about $19,500 to $30,000.

A finished well is more than the hole. Including the pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical, the estimated total is about $25,500 to $42,000 at the median depth. A 600-foot well would require a separate bid, and the final cost can change with access, casing, grout, water testing, site conditions, and whether the well reaches a productive fracture. Request an itemized proposal rather than comparing only a per-foot rate.

Ward risks: water quality, dry holes, and the building site

Fractured rock can produce a good well, but water-bearing fractures are unevenly distributed. Low yield or a dry hole remains a site-specific risk even when nearby wells look favorable. Review neighboring completion reports, pump tests, and static water levels instead of relying on a countywide average.

Within about 10 miles, the map includes 11 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 887 historic mine features, and 59 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. These mapped features do not establish contamination at a particular lot, but they justify testing the well water and checking the property's relationship to mines and cleanup areas. Also confirm septic setbacks, suitable soil, driveway access, and a buildable house location before drilling.

Before buying or building near Ward

Start with the Colorado DWR permit and construction records for the property and nearby wells. Compare locations around Hidden Lake, Bark Ranch, Gold Hill, St. Ann Highlands, Sugarloaf, and Bonanza Mountain Estates only as local context; each parcel still needs its own review. Confirm the permitted use, well construction, pump capacity, and any restrictions that affect the planned home.

For vacant land, make the well location, access route, septic area, and electrical plan work together before construction begins. For an existing home, test the water, measure the static level, inspect the pressure system, and ask how the well performs during dry periods. A well producing 7.0 gallons per minute may be adequate, but the property-specific records matter more than the median.

Well permits by decade near Ward

What a new well costs in Ward, 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 (438 ft) would run roughly $34,470–$55,800. 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 Ward? 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 Ward 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 Ward

Keep researching

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

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