Colorado ยท county water record
Water in Gilpin County
What the state and federal record says about water here, before you look at any particular piece of ground. Every finding names the agency it came from.
- 445 Live water rights across 152 square miles
- 3,609 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
- 291 days Days called out middle value across 77 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
Every finding on this page is one number for the whole county. These are the same records placed on the ground they came from.
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 colour 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.
Stands out
Soil here holds water at the surface rather than letting it through
100% of sections have hydrologic group D soil, against 83% across the state, 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 60 counties
100% here 1st of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Stands out
Nobody pipes water in this county
There is no active community water system anywhere on the federal register here, so every property is on a well, a cistern, or a shared private supply.
EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System 2 of 60 counties
2 here 2nd of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Stands out
Water here changes hands and moves
26% of rights carry a transfer, exchange or alternate point event, against 11% across the state. An active market means a price exists, and it also means water can leave the ground it started on.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 3 of 60 counties
26% here 3rd of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Stands out
Wells here have to go a long way down
The typical well is 250 feet deep, against 105 ft across the state, drawing not stated. Depth is the cost before the water is.
CDSS well permits 6 of 60 counties
250 ft here 6th of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Worth knowing
Wells here make very little water
The typical well makes 7 gallons a minute, against 12 gpm across the state. Workable for a house, a problem for livestock or irrigation.
CDSS well permits 7 of 60 counties
7 gpm here 7th of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Worth knowing
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 59 counties
76% here 8th of 59 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Worth knowing
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.
Worth knowing
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.
Stands out
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.
This is the county. Your question is probably a property.
None of the above is about a particular parcel. Water is not parcel-shaped: the ditch serving the ground runs through other people's land and the senior right that curtails it sits somewhere else, which is why the state files by survey section rather than by property. Check an address and you get the square mile it sits in, with the wells, the rights and what was actually diverted.
Check a property in Gilpin County