Colorado ยท county water record
Water in Park 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.
- 3,597 Live water rights across 2,223 square miles
- 17,140 Wells drilled across 2,223 square miles
- 778 ac Irrigated ground across 2,223 square miles
- 200 ft Well depth middle value across 1,131 of 2,223 square miles
- 314 days Days called out middle value across 681 of 2,223 square miles
Point at any square mile to read what is on it. Hover the maps below to compare them.
Park 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
2,223 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
Wells here make very little water
The typical well makes 6 gallons a minute, against 12 gpm across the state. Workable for a house, a problem for livestock or irrigation.
CDSS well permits 1 of 60 counties
6 gpm here 1st of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Stands out
Most water here is household-only and cannot legally do more
18% of rights are limited to household use under C.R.S. 37-92-602, against 0% across the state. That means no irrigation, no livestock, and no second dwelling on the same well.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 2 of 36 counties
18% here 2nd of 36 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Worth knowing
The state will not analyse most rights here
DWR declines a call analysis for 1.4% of rights, against 0% across the state. It declines wells, springs and reservoirs, so the curtailment picture here is thinner than the number of rights suggests.
DWR administrative call analysis 3 of 23 counties
1.4% here 3rd of 23 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Stands out
Water systems here have unresolved health violations
9 of this county's 11 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 4 of 44 counties
9 here 4th of 44 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Worth knowing
Nobody measures what most structures here divert
71% 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 8 of 60 counties
71% here 8th of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Worth knowing
Wells here have had to be re-drilled deeper
30 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 16 of 59 counties
30 here 16th of 59 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Worth knowing
A lot of this county is wet ground
64% 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 16 of 59 counties
64% here 16th of 59 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Context
Water here is called out for a large part of the year
The median right is out of priority 54 days a year on DWR's own analysis. The worst year on record here was 366 days.
DWR administrative call analysis 18 of 20 counties
54 days here 18th of 20 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Worth knowing
There are many impoundments here with no decreed storage right
627 reservoirs of record carry no storage decree. Each one is a question somebody has not answered.
CDSS structures 8 of 58 counties
627 here 8th of 58 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Context
Towns hold a large share of the water here
14% 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 22 of 58 counties
14% here 22nd of 58 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 Park County