Colorado · counties
Water in Gilpin County
What the state and federal record says about water across Gilpin 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
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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 Gilpin County
- 435household well permits issued since 2015
- 356of them for use inside the house only
- 79for full household use
- 380feet, the typical depth
- 6gallons a minute, the typical yield
CDSS well permits Decided by: DWR, at permit application. Appeals go to the water judge within 35 days.
- 445 Live water rights across 152 square miles
- 3,616 Wells drilled across 152 square miles
- 0 ac Irrigated ground across 152 square miles
- 240 ft Well depth middle value across 102 of 152 square miles
- 333 days Days called out middle value across 86 of 152 square miles
Point at any square mile to read what is on it. Hover the maps below to compare them.
Gilpin 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
152 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.
Soil here holds water at the surface rather than letting it through
100% 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 1 of 64 counties
100% here 1st 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 2 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 2 of 64 counties
2 here 2nd of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Water here changes hands and moves
26% of rights carry a transfer, exchange or alternate point event, against 11% in the median county. An active market means a price exists, and it also means water can leave the ground it started on.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 4 of 60 counties
26% here 4th 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 335 days a year on DWR's own analysis, against 170 days in the median county. The worst year on record here was 366 days.
DWR administrative call analysis 4 of 49 counties
335 days here 4th of 49 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Wells here have to go a long way down
The typical well is 250 feet deep, against 105 ft in the median county, drawing not stated. Depth is the cost before the water is.
CDSS well permits 7 of 64 counties
250 ft here 7th of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Wells here make very little water
The typical well makes 7 gallons a minute, against 12 gpm in the median county. Workable for a house, a problem for livestock or irrigation.
CDSS well permits 7 of 64 counties
7 gpm here 7th of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
It takes a long time to get from permit to water here
The median well takes 56 days from permit issue to completion, against 21 days in the median county. Worth knowing before you plan a build around drilling next spring.
CDSS well permit action history 7 of 64 counties
56 days 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
76% 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 8 of 63 counties
76% here 8th of 63 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Towns hold a large share of the water here
33% of rights allow municipal use. 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 10 of 58 counties
33% here 10th of 58 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Nobody measures what most structures here divert
70% of rights sit on structures where DWR keeps no diversion record. There is no way to check the paper against what actually came through.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 10 of 60 counties
70% here 10th of 60 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.
For one parcel in Gilpin 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 Gilpin County