Colorado ยท county water record
Water in Mesa 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.
- 4,564 Live water rights across 3,409 square miles
- 3,886 Wells drilled across 3,409 square miles
- 78,209 ac Irrigated ground across 3,409 square miles
- 130 ft Well depth middle value across 613 of 3,409 square miles
- 100 days Days called out middle value across 663 of 3,409 square miles
Point at any square mile to read what is on it. Hover the maps below to compare them.
Mesa 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
3,409 surveyed sections, drawn 2 by 2 miles 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
Most well permits ever issued here are dead
58% of 6,470 well permits are still live, against 69% across the state. An expired or cancelled permit is not permission to do anything.
CDSS well permits 4 of 60 counties
58% here 4th of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Stands out
There are dams here that would take lives if they failed
28 of this county's 155 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 4 of 54 counties
28 here 4th of 54 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Stands out
Wells here get plugged and abandoned more than most
19.7% of well permits end in a plugging, against 9% across the state, 759 wells in all. A well sealed shut is the clearest verdict a driller ever files.
CDSS well permit action history 6 of 60 counties
19.7% here 6th of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Worth knowing
Dams here are rated unsatisfactory
6 of this county's 155 dams carry an unsatisfactory condition rating. A storage right behind a failing dam is water you cannot count on.
Colorado Dam Safety 6 of 42 counties
6 here 6th of 42 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 8 gallons a minute. Workable for a house, a problem for livestock or irrigation.
CDSS well permits 13 of 60 counties
8 gpm here 13th of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Worth knowing
Half the wells drilled here never had a pump put in
67% 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 14 of 60 counties
67% here 14th of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Worth knowing
A listing's priority date will overstate seniority here
36% of water rights were decreed more than a decade after the water was first claimed. Listings quote the claim date. A call is administered on the decree date, and the median gap here is 11 years.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 20 of 60 counties
36% here 20th 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 Mesa County