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Water in Yuma County
What the state and federal record says about water across Yuma 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.
- Designated basins here: Northern High Plains.
- Groundwater management districts here can set tighter limits than the statute: Arikaree, Central Yuma, Sand Hills, W-y.
What has actually been permitted in Yuma County
- 302household well permits issued since 2015
- 0of them for use inside the house only
- 302for full household use
- 268feet, the typical depth
- 19gallons a minute, the typical yield
CDSS well permits Decided by: The Ground Water Commission, through DWR, at permit application.
- 138 Live water rights across 2,400 square miles
- 7,873 Wells drilled across 2,400 square miles
- 0 ac Irrigated ground across 2,400 square miles
- 234 ft Well depth middle value across 2,077 of 2,400 square miles
- 0 days Days called out middle value across 36 of 2,400 square miles
Point at any square mile to read what is on it. Hover the maps below to compare them.
Yuma 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
2,400 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.
Much of this county sits in a designated groundwater basin
100% 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 2 of 18 counties
100% here 2nd of 18 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Water here changes hands and moves
22% of rights carry a transfer, exchange or alternate point event, against 11% in the median county. An active market means a price exists, and it also means water can leave the ground it started on.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 5 of 60 counties
22% here 5th of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
The water table here sits far below the surface
The median static water level is 122 feet down, against 48 ft in the median county. That is pumping cost every day the well runs.
CDSS well permits 7 of 64 counties
122 ft here 7th of 64 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 4 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.
Water systems here have unresolved health violations
1 of this county's 4 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 45 counties
1 here 29th of 45 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
For one parcel in Yuma 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 Yuma County