Colorado · counties
Water in Montezuma County
What the state and federal record says about water across Montezuma County. Each figure names the agency it came from.
Can I drill a well here?
Yes on most land, for up to three homes, a garden and livestock
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Household well, any lot size
A household well can serve up to three homes, one acre of lawn and garden, and livestock, whatever the size of the lot.
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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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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.
- 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 Montezuma County
- 125household well permits issued since 2015
- 26of them for use inside the house only
- 99for full household use
- 190feet, the typical depth
- 6gallons a minute, the typical yield
CDSS well permits Decided by: DWR, at permit application. Appeals go to the water judge within 35 days.
- 1,356 Live water rights across 2,108 square miles
- 1,306 Wells drilled across 2,108 square miles
- 64,498 ac Irrigated ground across 2,108 square miles
- 130 ft Well depth middle value across 340 of 2,108 square miles
- 45 days Days called out middle value across 280 of 2,108 square miles
Point at any square mile to read what is on it. Hover the maps below to compare them.
Montezuma 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
2,108 surveyed sections, drawn one square mile 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.
The State Engineer refuses a large share of what is proposed here
He has refused 49% of the 72 subdivision proposals referred to him from this county, against 4% in the median county, with 16 more sent back for further information. A refusal is not a permanent bar and a proposal refused for want of an augmentation plan is routinely approved once one is decreed, but it is the state looking at a plan for this ground and saying the water is not demonstrated.
Subdivision referral opinions of the Colorado State Engineer 1 of 27 counties
49% here 1st of 27 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
A listing's priority date will overstate seniority here
53% of water rights were decreed more than a decade after the water was first claimed, against 30% in the median county. Listings quote the claim date. A call is administered on the decree date, and the median gap here is 30 years.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 2 of 60 counties
53% here 2nd of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Reservoirs here are under a storage restriction
7 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 4 of 40 counties
7 here 4th of 40 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
98% of sections have hydrologic group D soil, against 82% in the median county, 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 5 of 64 counties
98% here 5th of 64 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
76% of constructed wells have no pump installation on record, against 56% in the median county. 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 6 of 64 counties
76% here 6th of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Dams here are rated unsatisfactory
6 of this county's 40 dams carry an unsatisfactory condition rating. A storage right behind a failing dam is water you cannot count on.
Colorado Dam Safety 7 of 43 counties
6 here 7th of 43 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
79% 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 8 of 56 counties
79% here 8th of 56 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
A lot of the water decreed here was never built
9% of rights are conditional only. A court said somebody may build it and nobody has.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 11 of 58 counties
9% here 11th of 58 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Water systems here have unresolved health violations
2 of this county's 10 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 20 of 45 counties
2 here 20th 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
39% 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 31 of 63 counties
39% here 31st of 63 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 44 days a year on DWR's own analysis. The worst year on record here was 155 days.
DWR administrative call analysis 42 of 49 counties
44 days here 42nd of 49 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
For one parcel in Montezuma 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.
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