Colorado · counties
Water in Washington County
What the state and federal record says about water across Washington County. Each figure names the agency it came from.
Can I drill a well here?
Mostly yes, as a small-capacity well under the Ground Water Commission
-
Inside a designated groundwater basin
The Ground Water Commission's small-capacity rule applies instead: up to 50 gallons a minute and 5 acre-feet a year, for up to three homes and one acre.
-
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.
-
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.
- Designated basins here: Camp Creek, Northern High Plains.
- Groundwater management districts here can set tighter limits than the statute: Arikaree, W-y.
What has actually been permitted in Washington County
- 237household well permits issued since 2015
- 3of them for use inside the house only
- 234for full household use
- 120feet, the typical depth
- 15gallons a minute, the typical yield
CDSS well permits Decided by: The Ground Water Commission, through DWR, at permit application.
- 146 Live water rights across 2,520 square miles
- 3,774 Wells drilled across 2,520 square miles
- 10,057 ac Irrigated ground across 2,520 square miles
- 115 ft Well depth middle value across 1,472 of 2,520 square miles
- 119 days Days called out middle value across 39 of 2,520 square miles
Point at any square mile to read what is on it. Hover the maps below to compare them.
Washington 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
2,520 surveyed sections, drawn 2 by 2 miles 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.
Almost nowhere in this county is on a piped water system
The federal register lists 2 active community water systems for the whole county, against 10 in the median county. Unless a property sits inside one of them it is on a well, a cistern, or a shared private supply.
EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System 2 of 64 counties
2 here 2nd of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Some rights here cannot be analysed for curtailment at all
DWR declines a call analysis for 68.2% of rights, against 1% in the median county. It declines wells, springs and reservoirs, so the curtailment picture here is thinner than the number of rights suggests.
DWR administrative call analysis 4 of 44 counties
68.2% here 4th of 44 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Much of this county sits in a designated groundwater basin
67% of well permits are inside NORTHERN HIGH PLAINS, where new permits are restricted or unavailable. Before anything else about water here, find out whether you can get one.
CDSS well permits 5 of 18 counties
67% here 5th of 18 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Every town here drinks the same water a well would draw
All 2 of this county's community water systems run on groundwater rather than surface water. A municipal supply is the best-monitored well in the county, so its record is the closest thing to a free test of the aquifer under this ground.
EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System 1 of 59 counties
100% here 1st of 59 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Ground here is prime farmland, but only if it is irrigated
71% of sections carry soil the USDA classes as 'prime farmland if irrigated'. That qualifier is the whole sentence: the soil is excellent and the classification depends on water reaching it. It is what an appraiser and a conservation easement both test against.
USDA SSURGO soil survey 14 of 56 counties
71% here 14th of 56 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Wells here get plugged and abandoned more than most
15.0% of well permits end in a plugging, 390 wells in all. A well sealed shut is the clearest verdict a driller ever files.
CDSS well permit action history 15 of 64 counties
15.0% here 15th 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 73 days a year on DWR's own analysis. The worst year on record here was 239 days.
DWR administrative call analysis 38 of 49 counties
73 days here 38th of 49 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
A lot of this county is wet ground
27% 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 39 of 63 counties
27% here 39th of 63 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
For one parcel in Washington 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 Washington County