Colorado ยท county water record
Water in Routt 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.
- 6,227 Live water rights across 2,270 square miles
- 4,450 Wells drilled across 2,270 square miles
- 45,704 ac Irrigated ground across 2,270 square miles
- 180 ft Well depth middle value across 664 of 2,270 square miles
- 9.5 days Days called out middle value across 599 of 2,270 square miles
Point at any square mile to read what is on it. Hover the maps below to compare them.
Routt 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
2,270 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
Much of what stores water here predates the rules
641 structures here were in place before 1972, when Colorado began requiring a permit to build one, against 105 across the state. They are lawful because they are old, their records are thin, and what a buyer inherits is whatever the state happens to have written down.
CDSS structures 1 of 59 counties
641 here 1st of 59 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Stands out
Permits here expire before anyone drills
178 permits, 4% of all issued, ran out with no well ever completed, against 2% across the state. Permission is not a well, and permission expires.
CDSS well permit action history 5 of 60 counties
4% 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
5 of this county's 108 dams carry an unsatisfactory condition rating. A storage right behind a failing dam is water you cannot count on.
Colorado Dam Safety 10 of 42 counties
5 here 10th 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
A lot of this county is wet ground
61% 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 18 of 59 counties
61% here 18th of 59 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 23 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.
Worth knowing
Nobody measures what most structures here divert
59% 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 21 of 60 counties
59% here 21st of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Context
Half the wells drilled here never had a pump put in
60% 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 25 of 60 counties
60% here 25th 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 Routt County