The Ogallala aquifer
11,241 permits — 1.9% of the register — are recorded against this aquifer.
What this aquifer is
the great High Plains aquifer, under Colorado’s eastern counties.
Which aquifer a well draws on is not administrative detail: the Denver Basin formations have their own legal regime, and alluvial water is tied to the surface stream, which is why it is regulated differently. The depth below is the practical consequence.
| Measurement | Median | 90th percentile | Colorado median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depth | 250 ft | 345 ft | 148 ft — deeper here (7,528 permits, 67 %) |
| Yield | 20 gpm | 1000 gpm | 10 gpm — higher here (4,556 permits, 41 %) |
| Static water level | 142 ft | 220 ft | 58 ft — higher here (6,961 permits, 62 %) |
Where they are
| County | Permits | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Yuma | 4,112 | 36.6% |
| Kit Carson | 2,759 | 24.5% |
| Washington | 1,166 | 10.4% |
| Phillips | 1,087 | 9.7% |
| Logan | 414 | 3.7% |
| Cheyenne | 409 | 3.6% |
| Baca | 366 | 3.3% |
| Sedgwick | 341 | 3.0% |
| Lincoln | 266 | 2.4% |
| Kiowa | 103 | 0.9% |
| Prowers | 89 | 0.8% |
| Weld | 60 | 0.5% |
| Teller | 21 | 0.2% |
| Morgan | 9 | 0.1% |
| El Paso | 5 | 0.0% |
| Arapahoe | 5 | 0.0% |
| Adams | 3 | 0.0% |
| Chaffee | 2 | 0.0% |
| Park | 2 | 0.0% |
| Las Animas | 2 | 0.0% |
| Douglas | 1 | 0.0% |
| Grand | 1 | 0.0% |
| Bent | 1 | 0.0% |
| Gunnison | 1 | 0.0% |
| Summit | 1 | 0.0% |
| Eagle | 1 | 0.0% |
What happened to these permits
5,178 of the 11,241 permits on this aquifer ended with a well the Division was told about — 46.1%. And 1,342 expired without one: 11.9%.
An expired permit is the trap in a rural sale. A seller can produce a permit that lapsed years ago, and a permit is not a water right — the two are separate, and a purchase turns on both. What an expired permit does and does not mean.
| Status | Permits | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Well Constructed | 5,178 | 46.1% |
| Final Permit | 1,610 | 14.3% |
| Permit Expired | 1,342 | 11.9% |
| Permit Issued | 741 | 6.6% |
| Application Denied | 524 | 4.7% |
| Well Abandoned | 381 | 3.4% |
| Permit Canceled | 365 | 3.2% |
| Application Information Requested | 310 | 2.8% |
| Well Replaced - Abandonment Required | 178 | 1.6% |
| Application Received | 118 | 1.0% |
Buying land in Colorado, or need a well drilled?
11,241 well permits are on the Division’s register in Colorado, 1,342 of them expired. This site tells you what a permit says; it does not drill, and it is not advice on a water right. Tell us where and we pass the request to drillers and water-rights advisers working in Colorado.
We take no commission and we recommend no driller. We have no arrangement with any firm today — we are collecting these requests in order to go and find them. What we do with this.
The other aquifers
- All Unnamed Aquifers 465,783
- Not stated 19,134
- Dawson 14,024
- Denver 13,929
- Alluvial 13,890
- Arapahoe 9,456
- Laramie Fox Hills 7,796
- Upper Dawson 6,943
- Quaternary Alluvium 5,403
- Lower Dawson 4,944
- Unconfined San Luis Vall 3,975
- Unconfined San Luis Valley Aquifer 3,520
- Laramie-fox Hills 2,605
- Confined San Luis Valley 2,551
- Upper Arapahoe 2,224
- Lower Arapahoe 2,084
- Dakota 1,758
- Confined San Luis Valley Aquifer 1,683