Colorado · counties
Water in Denver County
What the state and federal record says about water across Denver 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 Denver County
- 6household well permits issued since 2015
- 1of them for use inside the house only
- 5for full household use
- 170feet, the typical depth
- 27gallons a minute, the typical yield
CDSS well permits Decided by: DWR, at permit application. Appeals go to the water judge within 35 days.
- 575 Live water rights across 161 square miles
- 7,091 Wells drilled across 161 square miles
- 791 ac Irrigated ground across 161 square miles
- 32 ft Well depth middle value across 146 of 161 square miles
- 254 days Days called out middle value across 50 of 161 square miles
Point at any square mile to read what is on it. Hover the maps below to compare them.
Denver 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
161 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.
Most of the wells drilled here never had a pump put in
97% 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 1 of 64 counties
97% here 1st of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Wells here get plugged and abandoned more than most
47.6% of well permits end in a plugging, against 10% in the median county, 3,845 wells in all. A well sealed shut is the clearest verdict a driller ever files.
CDSS well permit action history 1 of 64 counties
47.6% here 1st of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Permits here expire before anyone drills
669 permits, 8% 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 1 of 64 counties
8% here 1st of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Towns hold a large share of the water here
63% of rights allow municipal use, against 10% in the median county. Municipal rights are senior more often than not and rarely come back on the market, so they shape what is left for everyone else.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 2 of 58 counties
63% here 2nd of 58 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
42% of 12,762 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 2 of 64 counties
42% here 2nd of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Ground here is prime farmland, but only if it is irrigated
96% of sections carry soil the USDA classes as 'prime farmland if irrigated', against 49% 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 2 of 56 counties
96% here 2nd of 56 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
A large share of the water rights on paper here are dead
Only 79% of this county's 638 rights are still live, against 94% in the median county. A records search here turns up a great deal of history alongside the water.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 5 of 60 counties
79% here 5th of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Many decrees here name a structure that no longer exists
21% of rights attach to a structure DWR marks abandoned, historical or non-existent, against 5% in the median county. A decree citing a ditch that is gone is a title problem, not a water supply.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 5 of 60 counties
21% here 5th of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Water here is called out for a large part of the year
The median right is out of priority 223 days a year on DWR's own analysis. The worst year on record here was 360 days.
DWR administrative call analysis 15 of 49 counties
223 days here 15th of 49 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
The senior water here was claimed before Colorado was a state
The oldest appropriation on record in this county is 1859, which predates statehood in 1876. Seniority is the whole of Colorado water law and it is absolute: a right from the 1850s is in front of everything filed since, every year, in every dry year.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 4 of 60 counties
1859 here 4th of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
A lot of this county is wet ground
55% 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 22 of 63 counties
55% here 22nd of 63 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
For one parcel in Denver 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.
Search an address in Denver County