Wheat Ridge wells: shallow records, site-specific decisions

How deep are wells around Wheat Ridge?

How much water do wells make near Wheat Ridge?

Why Wheat Ridge’s 30-foot median needs context

Among 5,423 records reporting depth, the median is 30 feet, and the middle half runs from 20–70 feet. That gives a driller a shallow starting reference, not a promised completion depth. With monitoring wells prominent in the records, a household-well bid needs closer comparisons than the area-wide median.

Depths extend well beyond that shallow cluster: 80% are under 100 feet, but the 90th percentile is 264 feet and the deepest reported well is 1,760 feet. Permit aquifer labels include Alluvial, Denver and unnamed/fractured-bedrock entries. Ask the driller which formation the proposed well would target and how that changes footage, casing and grout requirements.

Reported Wheat Ridge yields center on 10 gpm

Only 407 records report pump yield, so this is a much smaller sample than the depth data. The median is 10.0 gpm, with the middle half at 7.0–14.0 gpm. A reported yield in that range is encouraging for household planning, but it does not establish sustained production through changing seasons or authorize outdoor watering.

Low production still matters: 3% report under 1 gpm, and 9% fall in the 1–5 gpm category. For a buyer, that means checking the pumping test rather than relying on a faucet demonstration. A low-yield well may need storage and careful demand management; a larger pump cannot create more groundwater.

Water levels do not show a steady local decline

The 161 records with static water levels show a median depth to water of 13 feet, with the middle half at 10–23 feet. Static level means the resting water level in the well, not the bottom of the hole or the level while pumping. Shallow standing water alone does not establish a dependable supply.

Decade medians are 15 feet in the 1950s, 18 in the 1960s, 95 in the 1970s, 14 in the 2010s and 11 in the 2020s. This series does not show a steady dropping water table. These are grouped measurements from different wells, not repeated readings from a consistent monitoring network.

Wheat Ridge’s permit history is not a contractor roster

Permit issuance reached 1,766 in the 2000s, following 1,532 in the 1990s. Records show 1,180 in the 2010s and 484 in the 2020s, with the newest permit dated 2025. The current decade is incomplete, and permits do not necessarily represent completed household wells.

The most frequent driller-field entry is “Authorized (Pe, Pg)” at 2,573 records; treat that as a record label, not a conventional drilling-company recommendation. Named firms include Adams Water Well Drilling (Adams, George E) with 211 records and James Drilling Company (Keaton, Michael K.) with 123. Historical record counts do not establish who is currently available or suited to your parcel.

Budget beyond the drilled hole in Wheat Ridge

The supplied cost model assumes Denver Basin sedimentary bedrock and a drilling rate of $50–$70 per foot. At the 30-foot median depth, that puts the drilled hole around $1,500–$2,100. The modeled finished well, including pump, tank, trenching and electrical, is approximately $7,500–$14,100.

That is a planning estimate, not a parcel quote. The 20–70-foot middle depth range gives useful context for footage allowances, but the mix of monitoring wells and deeper completions limits its value for a new household well. Have the bid identify the target formation, casing and grout, testing, access requirements and what happens financially if additional drilling is needed.

Environmental records deserve a closer look here

Within about 10 miles, the map includes 588 PFAS sampling/contamination sites, 144 historic mine features and 175 EPA Superfund/cleanup sites. Those counts flag places to investigate; they do not mean a particular Wheat Ridge well is contaminated. A sampling location is not automatically a confirmed contamination source.

Before buying, obtain laboratory water testing and ask the local health department which additional contaminants warrant attention at that address. Review nearby site records alongside the well’s construction and aquifer. Also inspect the wellhead and surface drainage, and confirm septic setbacks and buildable space. For a new well, discuss low-yield or unsuccessful drilling contingencies before equipment arrives.

Buying in Applewood or building near Fairmount

Start with the parcel’s DWR permit, construction report and available pumping-test records. A nearby well in Applewood or Fairmount is useful evidence only if its geology, construction and use resemble your proposed supply. The broad Wheat Ridge search radius also includes Lakeside, Mountain View and Edgewater, where records may serve very different purposes.

Confirm the permit allows the intended household and outdoor uses; an exempt household-use permit is not blanket irrigation permission. Where applicable, augmentation requirements can affect feasibility. Before closing or fixing the house location, coordinate well access, septic placement, driveway grading and utility trenches. Make a satisfactory water-supply review part of the purchase decision, not an afterthought.

Well permits by decade near Wheat Ridge

What a new well costs in Wheat Ridge, 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 (70 ft) would run roughly $9,500–$16,900. 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 Wheat Ridge? 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 Wheat Ridge 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 Wheat Ridge

Keep researching

More in Jefferson County

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

Nearby areas