Colorado ยท county water record
Water in Montezuma 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.
- 1,356 Live water rights across 2,108 square miles
- 1,302 Wells drilled across 2,108 square miles
- 64,498 ac Irrigated ground across 2,108 square miles
- 133 ft Well depth middle value across 340 of 2,108 square miles
- 74 days Days called out middle value across 132 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
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
2,108 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
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% across the state. 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.
Worth knowing
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 39 counties
7 here 4th of 39 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Stands out
Half the wells drilled here never had a pump put in
76% of constructed wells have no pump installation on record, against 57% across the state. 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 5 of 60 counties
76% here 5th of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Stands out
Ground here is prime farmland, but only if it is irrigated
79% of sections carry soil the USDA classes as 'prime farmland if irrigated', against 44% across the state. 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 5 of 52 counties
79% here 5th of 52 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Stands out
Soil here holds water at the surface rather than letting it through
98% of sections have hydrologic group D soil, against 83% across the state, 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 60 counties
98% here 5th 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 40 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
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 10 of 58 counties
9% here 10th 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
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 44 counties
2 here 20th of 44 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Context
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 59 counties
39% here 31st of 59 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 Montezuma County