What Yampa Wells Are Really Like

How deep are wells around Yampa?

How much water do wells make near Yampa?

Yampa Well Depths Range From Shallow to Very Deep

The median reported well depth near Yampa is 62 feet. The middle half runs from 35 to 122 feet, which means many local drilling projects are relatively shallow. The depth mix supports that pattern: 64% of wells are under 100 feet, while 24% fall between 100 and 300 feet.

There is still substantial variation. The 90th percentile is 364 feet, and the deepest record reaches 2,536 feet. In mountain fractured rock, a nearby shallow well does not prove your lot will be shallow. A driller should review neighboring logs, geology, access, casing, and grout requirements before giving a firm bid.

Most Yampa Wells Report Useful Production

Only 26 wells in the records report a pump yield, so the production sample is limited. Among those reports, the median yield is 10.0 gallons per minute, with the middle half between 6.0 and 11.8 gallons per minute. That is a workable range for many household uses, but a yield test is still necessary for a specific property.

No reported wells are under 1 gallon per minute. Another 19% produce between 1 and 5 gallons per minute, while 62% fall between 5 and 15 gallons per minute and 19% exceed 15 gallons per minute. Ask for the well-construction report and pumping information, not just a verbal production claim.

Yampa Water Levels Look Shallow in the Available Records

Only 6 wells report a static water level, so this is a small sample rather than a basinwide measurement. The median depth to water is 9 feet, and the middle half is 4 to 16 feet. Those readings indicate shallow static water levels in the reported wells.

The permit history does not provide a complete, consistent water-level series by decade, so it cannot establish that the water table is rising or dropping near Yampa. A static level is also not the same as a dependable pumping rate. Have the well tested after construction, and ask how the measurement was taken. Seasonal conditions, nearby pumping, and fractured rock can make one reading a poor predictor of long-term performance.

Yampa Permit History Shows Most Activity After the Early Years

Permit records show the strongest period of activity in the 1990s, with 49 permits. The record includes 15 permits in the 1970s, 15 in the 1980s, 24 in the 2000s, 11 in the 2010s, and 8 in the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2023.

The most frequently listed drillers are Arrow Drilling (Berglund, Peter R.), Golden Eagle Drilling Corporation (Shelton, Joe Wayne), and Interstate Water Wells, Inc. (Kuchler, Leroy E.). These names describe permit history, not a recommendation. Confirm current licensing, insurance, availability, casing and grout specifications, testing, and who handles the DWR paperwork.

A Typical Yampa Well Can Cost More Than the Hole Alone

The local cost model assumes fractured mountain bedrock, including granite and gneiss. Drilling is modeled at $65 to $100 per foot. At the local median depth of 62 feet, the drilled hole works out to about $4,000 to $6,200.

That is not the complete water system. A finished well with a pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is modeled at about $10,000 to $18,200. A bid can move outside that range if the hole must go substantially deeper, access is difficult, casing or grouting changes, or the site needs additional electrical and trench work. Get a written scope that separates drilling, completion, pump equipment, testing, and site restoration.

Check Water Quality, Septic Space, and Mountain-Site Risks

Permit records name an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer for 139 wells. They name alluvial aquifers for 2 wells and the Morrison aquifer for 1 well. No wells in the data are identified in a Denver Basin aquifer. Fractured bedrock can produce water through narrow zones, so dry holes and sharp differences between neighboring wells remain possible.

Within about ten miles, mapped environmental records include 2 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 6 historic mine features, and 1 EPA Superfund or cleanup site. These listings do not prove contamination at your property. Test the well for appropriate local concerns, review land-use history, and locate septic setbacks, replacement-area needs, driveway grades, and building envelopes before buying.

How to Approach a Yampa Lot Purchase or New Build

Start with the DWR permit file for the parcel and nearby wells in Yampa, Phippsburg, and Oak Creek. Compare reported depths, construction details, static levels, and yields, while remembering that only 26 wells report pump yield. The nearby record can narrow expectations, but it cannot promise a result on untested ground.

For an existing home, inspect the pump, pressure system, storage, electrical supply, water quality, and recent production test. For vacant land, obtain a driller’s access review and a written estimate before relying on the 62-foot median. Also confirm the legal water use, septic approval path, and building location. Household-use wells may be exempt wells, but Colorado water-right and augmentation requirements can still matter in an over-appropriated basin.

Well permits by decade near Yampa

What a new well costs in Yampa, 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 (122 ft) would run roughly $13,930–$24,200. 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 Yampa? 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 Yampa 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 Yampa

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

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