Colorado · counties
Water in San Miguel County
What the state and federal record says about water across San Miguel County. Each figure names the agency it came from.
Can I drill a well here?
It depends on where in the county the land is
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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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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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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 San Miguel County
- 296household well permits issued since 2015
- 71of them for use inside the house only
- 225for full household use
- 255feet, the typical depth
- 7gallons a minute, the typical yield
CDSS well permits Decided by: DWR, at permit application. Appeals go to the water judge within 35 days.
- 1,866 Live water rights across 1,342 square miles
- 2,086 Wells drilled across 1,342 square miles
- 14,327 ac Irrigated ground across 1,342 square miles
- 204 ft Well depth middle value across 353 of 1,342 square miles
- 25 days Days called out middle value across 431 of 1,342 square miles
Point at any square mile to read what is on it. Hover the maps below to compare them.
San Miguel 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
1,342 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
13% 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 5 of 58 counties
13% here 5th of 58 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
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 7 of 60 counties
71% here 7th of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Wells here make very little water
The typical well makes 7 gallons a minute, against 12 gpm in the median county. Workable for a house, a problem for livestock or irrigation.
CDSS well permits 7 of 64 counties
7 gpm here 7th 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
13% 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 9 of 60 counties
13% here 9th of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Dams here are rated unsatisfactory
3 of this county's 16 dams carry an unsatisfactory condition rating. A storage right behind a failing dam is water you cannot count on.
Colorado Dam Safety 16 of 43 counties
3 here 16th of 43 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
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 27 of 64 counties
60% here 27th of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
For one parcel in San Miguel 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 San Miguel County