Colorado · counties
Water in Larimer County
What the state and federal record says about water across Larimer 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 Larimer County
- 1,242household well permits issued since 2015
- 547of them for use inside the house only
- 695for full household use
- 502feet, the typical depth
- 7gallons a minute, the typical yield
CDSS well permits Decided by: DWR, at permit application. Appeals go to the water judge within 35 days.
- 5,567 Live water rights across 2,625 square miles
- 14,371 Wells drilled across 2,625 square miles
- 55,100 ac Irrigated ground across 2,625 square miles
- 230 ft Well depth middle value across 1,185 of 2,625 square miles
- 210 days Days called out middle value across 937 of 2,625 square miles
Point at any square mile to read what is on it. Hover the maps below to compare them.
Larimer 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
2,625 surveyed sections, drawn 2 by 2 miles 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.
There are dams here that would take lives if they failed
63 of this county's 195 dams are rated high hazard. Hazard is about what is DOWNSTREAM rather than about the dam's condition, so a high-hazard rating means people or roads below it, and it is what drives the inspection and the owner's liability.
Colorado Dam Safety 1 of 56 counties
63 here 1st of 56 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 6 gallons a minute, against 12 gpm in the median county. Workable for a house, a problem for livestock or irrigation.
CDSS well permits 2 of 64 counties
6 gpm here 2nd of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
This is farming country and the water is committed to it
Structures here serve 202,703 mapped irrigated acres, against 32,919 ac in the median county. That acreage is what the decreed water is already doing, so a new use competes with it rather than adding to it.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 2 of 45 counties
202,703 ac here 2nd of 45 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Dams here are rated unsatisfactory
9 of this county's 195 dams carry an unsatisfactory condition rating. A storage right behind a failing dam is water you cannot count on.
Colorado Dam Safety 2 of 43 counties
9 here 2nd of 43 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Reservoirs here are under a storage restriction
5 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 6 of 40 counties
5 here 6th of 40 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Water systems here have unresolved health violations
7 of this county's 47 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 6 of 45 counties
7 here 6th of 45 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Wells here have had to be re-drilled deeper
55 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 7 of 62 counties
55 here 7th of 62 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Towns hold a large share of the water here
36% 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 8 of 58 counties
36% here 8th of 58 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
94% of sections have hydrologic group D soil, 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 13 of 64 counties
94% here 13th 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
13.0% of well permits end in a plugging, 1,631 wells in all. A well sealed shut is the clearest verdict a driller ever files.
CDSS well permit action history 19 of 64 counties
13.0% here 19th 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
61% 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 19 of 63 counties
61% here 19th of 63 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Nobody measures what most structures here divert
57% 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 22 of 60 counties
57% here 22nd 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 200 days a year on DWR's own analysis. The worst year on record here was 366 days.
DWR administrative call analysis 22 of 49 counties
200 days here 22nd of 49 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
There are many impoundments here with no decreed storage right
80 reservoirs of record carry no storage decree. Each one is a question somebody has not answered.
CDSS structures 13 of 58 counties
80 here 13th of 58 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
43% of sections carry soil the USDA classes as 'prime farmland if irrigated'. 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 31 of 56 counties
43% here 31st of 56 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
For one parcel in Larimer 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 Larimer County