Colorado ยท county water record
Water in Summit 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.
- 2,265 Live water rights across 698 square miles
- 5,426 Wells drilled across 698 square miles
- 4,105 ac Irrigated ground across 698 square miles
- 110 ft Well depth middle value across 235 of 698 square miles
- 345 days Days called out middle value across 135 of 698 square miles
Point at any square mile to read what is on it. Hover the maps below to compare them.
Summit 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
698 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
Water here changes hands and moves
38% of rights carry a transfer, exchange or alternate point event, against 11% across the state. An active market means a price exists, and it also means water can leave the ground it started on.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 1 of 60 counties
38% here 1st of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Stands out
A lot of this county is wet ground
85% of sections carry poorly drained soil, against 40% across the state, 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 1 of 59 counties
85% here 1st of 59 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Worth knowing
Most water here is household-only and cannot legally do more
6% 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 4 of 36 counties
6% here 4th of 36 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Worth knowing
Towns hold a large share of the water here
33% 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 9 of 58 counties
33% here 9th of 58 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 14 of 58 counties
9% here 14th 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
1 of this county's 24 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 29 of 44 counties
1 here 29th of 44 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 Summit County