What to Expect From a Well in Yuma County

How deep are wells around Yuma County?

How much water do wells make near Yuma County?

Budgeting for Depth Around Wray, Yuma and Idalia

Among the 7,653 permits reporting total depth, the median is 233 feet and the middle half fall between 140 and 303 feet. For a drilling bid, that spread matters more than treating the median as a fixed target. Ask how the price changes if the productive interval is deeper than expected. The 90th-percentile depth is 359 feet.

Ground here is alluvium and plains sedimentary rock. Permits name the Ogallala on 4,138 wells and the High Plains Aquifer on 124. Another 7,831 fall under an unnamed / fractured-bedrock label; that broad record category does not establish granite conditions on your lot. Local well logs near Joes, Kirk or Vernon are better guides to the formations a driller will encounter.

Yuma County Yield Numbers Need a Use Check

The 2,828 records with pump yields show a 15.0 gpm median, with the middle half between 10.0 and 50.0 gpm. Reported shares include 2% at 1-5 gpm and 0% under 1 gpm. That is encouraging for household supply, but it is not proof that low-yield or unsuccessful drilling cannot occur.

These are countywide records, not a domestic-only sample. The use mix includes domestic/household at 28%, stock at 41% and irrigation at 38%; those categories should not be treated as mutually exclusive. A reported pump yield also is not a sustained-output guarantee. For a home purchase, have the well's pumping performance, recovery and pump condition checked against the property's intended demand.

Recent Water-Level Records Point Deeper

Static water level is the resting depth to water, not the bottom of the well. Yuma County's 556 reported measurements have a 121-foot median, with the middle half between 72 and 180 feet below ground. Do not subtract that median from the county's median well depth to estimate available water in a particular well; the measurements are not necessarily paired.

The decade medians became shallower from 145 feet in the 1950s to 91 feet in the 1990s, then deepened to 121 feet in the 2000s, 142 feet in the 2010s and 156 feet in the 2020s. The recent sequence suggests declining groundwater levels in the recorded sample. Different wells were measured across decades, however, so it does not establish a decline rate for your parcel.

A Long Drilling Record Across Yuma County

Permit issuance reached 1,565 in the 1970s, compared with 542 in the 1960s and 760 in the 1980s. Records show 816 permits in the 2010s and 371 in the 2020s, with the newest permit dated 2025. The current decade is incomplete in this dataset, so that comparison alone does not establish a slowdown.

The leading drillers in the records are Wellstone Industries Dba Twiss & Wilson Drilling Inc (Twiss, Raymond L.) with 1,814, Burgess Well Company Inc. (Burgess, Larry) with 435, and Schaal Drilling Co. (Schaal, Ruben T.) with 390. These are historical record counts, not confirmation of current availability. Ask prospective drillers about recent work near your parcel and request an itemized scope.

What a New Yuma County Well May Cost

The local cost model uses $35-$55 per foot for drilling through alluvium and plains sedimentary rock. At the 233-foot median depth, the drilled hole is modeled at about $8,200-$12,800. A finished well with pump, tank, trenching and electrical is about $14,200-$24,800.

Treat those amounts as planning figures, not contractor quotes. The 140-303-foot middle-half depth range leaves meaningful room for the actual drilled footage to change. Access, casing and grout requirements, pump selection and the route to the house also affect the scope. Before comparing bids, ask what each includes, how additional footage is charged and what you would owe if the hole does not produce an adequate supply.

Water Quality and Site Risks to Check Before Closing

The environmental map flags 74 PFAS sampling/contamination sites and 1 EPA Superfund/cleanup site within about 10 miles of the county coverage. A mapped sampling location is not proof that a nearby domestic well is contaminated. It is a reason to review the underlying site information and discuss appropriate laboratory testing rather than assuming clear-looking water is safe.

Inspect the wellhead, casing and surface drainage, and obtain a current water-quality test for a purchase. The reported 0% share under 1 gpm does not measure dry-hole risk or guarantee future performance. For a build, coordinate the well location with septic siting, house placement and construction access before excavation. Poor layout can complicate both sanitary protection and future well service.

Buying a Lot Near Eckley, Laird or Vernon

Start with the parcel's DWR permit and construction record, then compare nearby wells serving a similar use. A productive irrigation well nearby does not establish either household-well yield or permission to irrigate your lot. Confirm that the existing or proposed permit allows the household, livestock and outdoor uses you actually need; exempt household-use permits can restrict outdoor use.

For an existing well, request pumping-test information, current water levels, water-quality results and repair records. For vacant land, verify permit eligibility before committing to a building plan. In over-appropriated basins, uses outside an applicable exemption may require augmentation. Countywide medians are useful screening tools, but records close to Eckley, Laird or Vernon should carry more weight than comparisons with Phillips County or Washington County.

Well permits by decade near Yuma County

What a new well costs in Yuma County

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 (303 ft) would run roughly $16,605–$28,665. 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 Yuma County? 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 Yuma County 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 Yuma County

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Towns and areas in Yuma County

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