Colorado · counties
Water in Pitkin County
What the state and federal record says about water across Pitkin 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.
- 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 Pitkin County
- 324household well permits issued since 2015
- 88of them for use inside the house only
- 236for full household use
- 140feet, the typical depth
- 15gallons a minute, the typical yield
CDSS well permits Decided by: DWR, at permit application. Appeals go to the water judge within 35 days.
- 2,864 Live water rights across 1,011 square miles
- 2,848 Wells drilled across 1,011 square miles
- 8,851 ac Irrigated ground across 1,011 square miles
- 99 ft Well depth middle value across 238 of 1,011 square miles
- 61 days Days called out middle value across 359 of 1,011 square miles
Point at any square mile to read what is on it. Hover the maps below to compare them.
Pitkin 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
1,011 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.
A lot of the water decreed here was never built
15% of rights are conditional only, against 5% in the median county. A court said somebody may build it and nobody has.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 4 of 58 counties
15% here 4th of 58 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
A large share of the well permits issued here are dead
58% of 4,793 well permits are still live, against 68% in the median county. An expired or cancelled permit is not permission to do anything.
CDSS well permits 6 of 64 counties
58% here 6th of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Water here changes hands and moves
21% of rights carry a transfer, exchange or alternate point event. An active market means a price exists, and it also means water can leave the ground it started on.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 7 of 60 counties
21% here 7th of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
A lot of this county is wet ground
77% of sections carry poorly drained soil, against 36% in the median county, 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 7 of 63 counties
77% here 7th of 63 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
97% of sections have hydrologic group D soil, 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 8 of 64 counties
97% here 8th of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Many decrees here name a structure that no longer exists
12% of rights attach to a structure DWR marks abandoned, historical or non-existent. A decree citing a ditch that is gone is a title problem, not a water supply.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 10 of 60 counties
12% here 10th of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Water here is still being fought over
716 water court applications named this county since 2021, the most recent in 2026. Every one is a public document you can read.
Colorado water court resumes 5 of 60 counties
716 here 5th of 60 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
62% 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 23 of 64 counties
62% here 23rd of 64 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 59 days a year on DWR's own analysis. The worst year on record here was 295 days.
DWR administrative call analysis 39 of 49 counties
59 days here 39th of 49 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
For one parcel in Pitkin 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 Pitkin County