Colorado · counties
Water in Broomfield County
What the state and federal record says about water across Broomfield County. Each figure names the agency it came from.
Can I drill a well here?
It depends on your lot: its size, and when it was created
-
Where the lot decides (over-appropriated ground)
What a household well may serve depends on the lot's size and on when and how it was created:
Lot of 35 acres or more
A household well can serve up to three homes, one acre of lawn and garden, and livestock. A 35-acre tract platted as part of a subdivision counts as part of the subdivision instead.
Under 35 acres, created before June 1, 1972 or by a county exemption
A household well for use inside one house only. No lawn, garden or livestock.
Under 35 acres, in a subdivision approved June 1, 1972 or later
No well by right. DWR weighs every well in the subdivision together, so in practice the subdivision's own water supply plan decides what a well may do.
- One exempt well per legal parcel. Inside a town or a water district's service area DWR generally issues no household well permit.
What has actually been permitted in Broomfield County
- 4household well permits issued since 2015
- 1of them for use inside the house only
- 3for full household use
- 885feet, the typical depth
- 10gallons a minute, the typical yield
CDSS well permits Decided by: DWR, at permit application. Appeals go to the water judge within 35 days.
- 90 Live water rights across 33 square miles
- 634 Wells drilled across 33 square miles
- 553 ac Irrigated ground across 33 square miles
- 34 ft Well depth middle value across 33 of 33 square miles
- 164 days Days called out middle value across 21 of 33 square miles
Point at any square mile to read what is on it. Hover the maps below to compare them.
Broomfield County by the square mile
Each figure below is one number for the whole county. The map places the same records on the ground, square mile by square mile.
Live water rights. Decreed rights still on the books. This is where the paper water is, which is not the same map as where anybody drilled.
- none on record (bare ground)
- up to 1
- 2
- 3
- 4 to 6
- 7 to 16
- over 16
33 surveyed sections, drawn one square mile to a square. The shading is scaled against every county in Colorado, so a color means the same thing on any of these pages. The outline is the county boundary from the Census Bureau: ground inside the line and outside the shading is ground nobody has drilled, filed on or addressed. Aerial imagery is the USGS National Map.
Ground here is prime farmland, but only if it is irrigated
100% of sections carry soil the USDA classes as 'prime farmland if irrigated', against 48% in the median county. That qualifier is the whole sentence: the soil is excellent and the classification depends on water reaching it. It is what an appraiser and a conservation easement both test against.
USDA SSURGO soil survey 1 of 56 counties
100% here 1st of 56 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Wells here get plugged and abandoned more than most
35.9% of well permits end in a plugging, against 10% in the median county, 244 wells in all. A well sealed shut is the clearest verdict a driller ever files.
CDSS well permit action history 2 of 64 counties
35.9% here 2nd of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
A large share of the well permits issued here are dead
52% of 1,130 well permits are still live, against 68% in the median county. An expired or cancelled permit is not permission to do anything.
CDSS well permits 3 of 64 counties
52% here 3rd of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Most of the wells drilled here never had a pump put in
85% of constructed wells have no pump installation on record, against 56% in the median county. Somebody paid to drill a hole and walked away from it. A permit says you may drill; this is what happened when people did.
CDSS well permit action history 3 of 64 counties
85% here 3rd of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Permits here expire before anyone drills
33 permits, 5% of all issued, ran out with no well ever completed, against 2% in the median county. Permission is not a well, and permission expires.
CDSS well permit action history 3 of 64 counties
5% here 3rd of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Soil here holds water at the surface rather than letting it through
97% of sections have hydrologic group D soil, against 82% in the median county, the slowest-infiltrating class. Good ground for a stock pond, which will hold without lining. Bad ground for a septic absorption field and for well recharge, because one property drives all three.
USDA SSURGO soil survey 7 of 64 counties
97% here 7th of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Almost nowhere in this county is on a piped water system
The federal register lists 3 active community water systems for the whole county, against 10 in the median county. Unless a property sits inside one of them it is on a well, a cistern, or a shared private supply.
EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System 7 of 64 counties
3 here 7th of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
A lot of this county is wet ground
27% of sections carry poorly drained soil, meaning a water table close to the surface for part of the year. A foundation and septic constraint, and often the most productive ground on a property.
USDA SSURGO soil survey 38 of 62 counties
27% here 38th of 62 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
For one parcel in Broomfield County
The figures above describe the whole county. The Land, Development and Rights reports answer for one parcel: what water conveys, what a well permit would allow, and what the county requires to split it. Each answer gives the evidence within a mile and who decides.
Check a property in Broomfield County