Colorado · counties
Water in Lincoln County
What the state and federal record says about water across Lincoln 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.
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Inside a designated groundwater basin
The Ground Water Commission's small-capacity rule applies instead: up to 50 gallons a minute and 5 acre-feet a year, for up to three homes and one acre.
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On a rule boundary
A basin or over-appropriation line crosses these sections, so the answer turns on where on the lot the well would sit.
- Designated basins here: Northern High Plains, Upper Big Sandy.
- Groundwater management districts here can set tighter limits than the statute: Arikaree, Big Sandy.
- 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 Lincoln County
- 159household well permits issued since 2015
- 0of them for use inside the house only
- 159for full household use
- 80feet, the typical depth
- 12gallons a minute, the typical yield
CDSS well permits Decided by: DWR, at permit application. Appeals go to the water judge within 35 days.
- 530 Live water rights across 2,592 square miles
- 2,802 Wells drilled across 2,592 square miles
- 0 ac Irrigated ground across 2,592 square miles
- 60 ft Well depth middle value across 1,147 of 2,592 square miles
- 347 days Days called out middle value across 195 of 2,592 square miles
Point at any square mile to read what is on it. Hover the maps below to compare them.
Lincoln 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
2,592 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.
Structures here have measured years where nothing came through
75% of measured structures recorded at least one year diverting nothing, against 25% in the median county. A decree does not stop a headgate running dry.
DWR diversion records 2 of 60 counties
75% here 2nd of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Nobody measures what most structures here divert
74% of rights sit on structures where DWR keeps no diversion record, against 51% in the median county. There is no way to check the paper against what actually came through.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 5 of 60 counties
74% here 5th of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Water here has already been taken away for non-use
9% of rights carry an abandonment record, against 4% in the median county. This is not the decennial list, which is the state PROPOSING to cancel a right. These are the ones where that already happened, and they are the clearest evidence of how the division engineer treats non-use in this county.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 5 of 59 counties
9% here 5th of 59 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 303 days a year on DWR's own analysis. The worst year on record here was 366 days.
DWR administrative call analysis 7 of 49 counties
303 days here 7th of 49 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Wells here get plugged and abandoned more than most
20.1% of well permits end in a plugging, against 10% in the median county, 425 wells in all. A well sealed shut is the clearest verdict a driller ever files.
CDSS well permit action history 7 of 64 counties
20.1% here 7th of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Much of this county sits in a designated groundwater basin
36% of well permits are inside NORTHERN HIGH PLAINS, where new permits are restricted or unavailable. Before anything else about water here, find out whether you can get one.
CDSS well permits 8 of 18 counties
36% here 8th of 18 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
75% 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 9 of 56 counties
75% here 9th of 56 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Most of the wells drilled here never had a pump put in
65% of constructed wells have no pump installation on record. 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 21 of 64 counties
65% here 21st of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Water systems here have unresolved health violations
1 of this county's 6 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 45 counties
1 here 29th of 45 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
A lot of this county is wet ground
29% 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 36 of 63 counties
29% here 36th of 63 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
For one parcel in Lincoln 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 Lincoln County