Colorado ยท county water record
Water in Grand 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.
- 4,215 Live water rights across 1,846 square miles
- 7,401 Wells drilled across 1,846 square miles
- 33,232 ac Irrigated ground across 1,846 square miles
- 175 ft Well depth middle value across 469 of 1,846 square miles
- 22 days Days called out middle value across 385 of 1,846 square miles
Point at any square mile to read what is on it. Hover the maps below to compare them.
Grand 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
1,846 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
Water here usually needs an augmentation plan to be legal
0.6% of rights sit under an augmentation plan, against 0% across the state. Replacement water has to come from somewhere and is almost always paid for, every year, and the obligation runs with the land.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 2 of 22 counties
0.6% here 2nd of 22 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Stands out
Water here changes hands and moves
33% 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 2 of 60 counties
33% here 2nd of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Stands out
Reservoirs here are under a storage restriction
9 dams here are restricted, meaning the state will not let them fill to their decreed capacity until repairs are made. A storage right behind a restricted dam is water that legally exists and physically cannot be held.
Colorado Dam Safety 2 of 39 counties
9 here 2nd of 39 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Stands out
Dams here are rated unsatisfactory
9 of this county's 68 dams carry an unsatisfactory condition rating. A storage right behind a failing dam is water you cannot count on.
Colorado Dam Safety 2 of 42 counties
9 here 2nd of 42 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Stands out
A lot of the water decreed here was never built
17% of rights are conditional only, against 5% across the state. A court said somebody may build it and nobody has.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 3 of 58 counties
17% here 3rd of 58 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Stands out
It takes a long time to get from permit to water here
The median well takes 72 days from permit issue to completion, against 23 days across the state. Worth knowing before you plan a build around drilling next spring.
CDSS well permit action history 3 of 60 counties
72 days here 3rd of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Worth knowing
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 295 days.
DWR administrative call analysis 6 of 20 counties
223 days here 6th of 20 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
80% of sections carry poorly drained soil, against 40% across the state, 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 6 of 59 counties
80% here 6th of 59 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 9 gallons a minute. Workable for a house, a problem for livestock or irrigation.
CDSS well permits 17 of 60 counties
9 gpm here 17th of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Worth knowing
Wells here have had to be re-drilled deeper
26 wells carry a later record more than 20% deeper than their first. Colorado publishes no water-level trend, so a well going back down is the closest thing to one.
CDSS well permit action history 18 of 59 counties
26 here 18th 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
14% 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 20 of 58 counties
14% here 20th of 58 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Context
Water systems here have unresolved health violations
1 of this county's 24 community water systems carry a health-based violation that has not been returned to compliance. Health-based means contamination or a treatment failure, not late paperwork.
EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System 29 of 44 counties
1 here 29th of 44 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 Grand County