Well permits in Las Animas County

8,050 well permits — 1.3% of Colorado’s register. The median well here is 150 feet deep, against 148 feet statewide.

8,050Permits

150 ftMedian depth

1,122Expired

0Denver Basin aquifer

How deep people drill in Las Animas County

This is the part a buyer actually wants, and it is not published anywhere else. The figures below are medians over the permits where the Division was told — a mean would be carried away by a handful of industrial wells.

Medians, on the permits where the Division was told — never a mean, which a few industrial wells would carry away
Measurement	Median	90th percentile	Colorado median
Depth	150 ft	512 ft	148 ft — deeper here (3,133 permits, 39 %)
Yield	6.5 gpm	15 gpm	10 gpm — lower here (636 permits, 8 %)
Static water level	58 ft	323 ft	58 ft — the same here (2,380 permits, 30 %)

What the permits allow

A well permit is not a general right to water: it names what the water may be used for, and the narrowest of them — household use only — means inside the house and nothing else.

Decreed use	Permits	Share
Industrial	2,934	36.4%
Domestic	2,270	28.2%
Stock	1,309	16.3%
Monitoring/sampling	616	7.7%
Household Use Only	438	5.4%
Augmentation	196	2.4%
Irrigation	99	1.2%
Other	77	1.0%
Not stated	39	0.5%
Municipal	37	0.5%
Commercial	20	0.2%
Fire	7	0.1%

What happened to these permits

5,680 of the 8,050 permits in Las Animas County ended with a well the Division was told about — 70.6%. And 1,122 expired without one: 13.9%.

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	5,680	70.6%
Permit Expired	1,122	13.9%
Permit Issued	386	4.8%
Well Abandoned	327	4.1%
Application Information Requested	159	2.0%
Permit Canceled	124	1.5%
Well Replaced - Abandonment Required	110	1.4%
Application Received	39	0.5%
Application Denied	36	0.4%
	20	0.2%

Which aquifers

Aquifer	Permits	Share
All Unnamed Aquifers	7,808	97.0%
Not stated	65	0.8%
Dakota	52	0.6%
Cheyenne	18	0.2%
Alluvial	14	0.2%
Raton	13	0.2%
Laramie	12	0.1%
Laramie Fox Hills	11	0.1%
Dakota Group Aquifer	11	0.1%
Dakota Sandstone	10	0.1%

When the permits were issued

Issued in	Permits	Share
2020s	368	4.6%
2010s	3,660	45.5%
2000s	845	10.5%
1990s	1,171	14.5%
1980s	351	4.4%
1970s	356	4.4%
1960s	59	0.7%
1950s	88	1.1%

Buying land in Las Animas County, or need a well drilled?

8,050 well permits are on the Division’s register in Las Animas County, 1,122 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.

Permits on record in Las Animas County

Well permits, Las Animas County — 110 of the 110 shown carry the subdivision or plat name the applicant gave; a 0 means the Division was never told, not a measurement of zero
Subdivision, or the permit number	Status	Decreed use	Depth (ft)	Yield (gpm)	Year
Ponderosa Hills permit 338156-	Well Constructed	Domestic	165	0	2025
Delagua Canyon Ranches permit 337726-	Well Constructed	Domestic	150	0	2025
Longhorn Ranch permit 339574-	Well Constructed	Stock	425	11	2025
Cimmaron Ranch-pine Valley (filing: 1) permit 90106-F	Well Constructed	Household Use Only	110	0	2025
Ponderosa Hills permit 335301-	Well Constructed	Domestic	165	0	2024
Picketwire Ranch permit 335508-	Well Constructed	Domestic	500	0	2024
Aspen Rose Ranch permit 336089-	Well Constructed	Stock	60	0	1950
North Fork Ranch permit 335959-	Well Constructed	Domestic	205	0	2025
Spirit Mountain Ranch permit 336114-	Well Constructed	Domestic	910	2	2025
Rancho la Garita permit 336223-	Well Constructed	Household Use Only	46	0	2025
Emerald Vista Estates permit 329746-	Well Constructed	Domestic	147	0	2023
Spring Creek Ranch permit 331378-	Well Constructed	Stock	120	0	2023
Cuchara Pass Ranch permit 331515-	Well Constructed	Domestic	70	0	2025
Cuchara Pass Ranch permit 325115-	Well Constructed	Domestic	145	15	2022
Trails West Development permit 327593-	Well Constructed	Domestic	110	0	2023
Fisher Peak Ranch permit 327708-	Well Constructed	Domestic	165	3	2023
Stonewall Meadows permit 327987-	Well Constructed	Household Use Only	50	0	2024
Durango Hills permit 87074--A	Well Constructed	Domestic	460	0	2024
Longhorn Ranch permit 329059-	Well Constructed	Stock	425	0	2025
Jeffries Mes Proj 92-205 permit 329082-	Well Constructed	Domestic	220	0	2023
Cuchara Pass Ranch permit 320060-	Well Constructed	Domestic	265	7	2021
Rancho la Garita permit 321876-	Well Constructed	Household Use Only	400	6	2021
Las Animas Ranch permit 322085-	Well Constructed	Domestic	310	11	2022
Cuchara Pass Ranch permit 322087-	Well Constructed	Domestic	630	0	1997
Eagles Landing permit 322652-	Well Constructed	Domestic	50	12	2022
Rancho la Garita permit 322701-	Well Constructed	Household Use Only	513	0	2022
Spanish Highlands permit 323117-	Well Constructed	Household Use Only	500	6	2022
Blackhawk Ranch permit 323361-	Well Constructed	Domestic	510	0	2021
Eagles Landing permit 323785-	Well Constructed	Domestic	105	5	2022
Apishapa River Ranch permit 162006--A	Well Constructed	Domestic	550	6	2021
Spirit Mountain Ranch permit 194064--A	Well Constructed	Domestic	740	5	2020
Rancho la Garita permit 317438-	Well Constructed	Household Use Only	363	0	2020
Spanish Highlands (filing: 3,4) permit 317490-	Well Constructed	Household Use Only	300	7	2020
Colorado Canyon permit 317942-	Well Constructed	Domestic	200	0	2021
Cimaron Ranch permit 84592-F	Well Constructed	Household Use Only	318	0	2021
Woods At Monument Lake permit 318169-	Well Constructed	Domestic	1200	0	2021
Trujillo Creek permit 319251-	Well Constructed	Domestic	715	0	2020
Aspen Rose Ranch permit 319326-	Well Constructed	Domestic	80	6	2021
Trujillo Creek Ranch permit 316760-	Well Constructed	Domestic	560	3	2003
Bighorn Sheep Ranchettes permit 313035-	Well Constructed	Domestic	1805	0	2000
Cimarron Ranch permit 83155-F	Well Constructed	Household Use Only	0	0	2019
Spirit Mountain Ranch permit 208009--A	Well Constructed	Domestic	610	3	2019
Cimarron Ranch permit 313697-	Well Constructed	Domestic	410	0	2019
Longhorn Ranch permit 314432--A	Well Constructed	Stock	350	0	2019
Longhorn Ranch permit 309891-	Well Constructed	Domestic	320	0	2018
Longhorn Ranch permit 309348-	Well Constructed	Stock	373	0	2019
Rancho la Garita permit 310069-	Well Constructed	Household Use Only	300	5	2018
Ponderosa Hills permit 310537-	Well Constructed	Domestic	190	0	2018
Colorado Mountain Lake Estates permit 310870-	Well Constructed	Household Use Only	510	0	2018
Blackhawk Ranch permit 199901--A	Well Constructed	Domestic	847	4	2019
Emerald Vista Estates permit 311108-	Well Constructed	Domestic	95	5	2019
Arrowhead Ranchettes permit 311174-	Well Constructed	Domestic	80	0	1955
Delagua Canyon Ranches permit 311364-	Well Constructed	Domestic	180	0	2019
Woods At Monument Lake permit 311821-	Well Constructed	Domestic	310	5	2020
Bighorn Sheep Ranchettes permit 311869-	Well Constructed	Domestic	522	10	2019
Colorado Canyon permit 304500-	Well Constructed	Domestic	220	0	2017
New Breed Ranch (filing: 2) permit 80742-F	Well Constructed	Domestic	425	12	2017
Colorado Canyon permit 305351-	Well Constructed	Domestic	80	15	2017
Hoehne permit 305161--A	Well Constructed	Domestic	43	10	2017
Stonewall Plaza permit 306700-	Well Constructed	Household Use Only	44	0	2017
Apishapa River Ranch permit 306376-	Well Constructed	Domestic	680	6	2017
Spirit Mountain Ranch permit 306995-	Well Constructed	Domestic	750	3	2017
Woods At Monument Lake permit 307353-	Well Constructed	Domestic	1110	9	2019
La Mariposa Ranch permit 307610-	Well Constructed	Household Use Only	450	0	2017
Spring Creek Ranch permit 300446-	Well Constructed	Domestic	80	0	2016
Fisher Peak Ranch permit 300553-	Well Constructed	Domestic	620	0	2016
Stonewall Plaza permit 301215-	Well Constructed	Domestic	50	0	1961
Spring Creek Ranch permit 301252-	Well Constructed	Domestic	210	0	2016
Fisher Peak Ranch permit 301298-	Well Constructed	Domestic	380	0	2016
Spring Creek Ranch permit 303463-	Well Constructed	Domestic	160	9	2019
Primero Ranch permit 300395-	Well Constructed	Domestic	303	0	2016
Olson Acres permit 52663-MH	Well Constructed	Monitoring/sampling	8	0	2014
Spirit Mountain Ranch permit 293695-	Well Constructed	Domestic	725	0	2014
Blackhawk Ranch permit 296449-	Well Constructed	Domestic	540	0	2015
Stonewall Meadows permit 134065--A	Well Constructed	Household Use Only	60	7.75	2013
Spirit Mountain Ranch permit 189789--A	Well Constructed	Domestic	1047	2	2014
Apishapa River Ranch permit 291869-	Well Constructed	Domestic	750	2	2014
Rancho la Garita permit 291842-	Well Constructed	Domestic	330	0	2013
Apishapa River Ranch permit 159613--A	Well Constructed	Domestic	875	5	2013
Black Hawk Ranch (filing: 9) permit 292443-	Well Constructed	Domestic	680	10	2015
Bighorn Sheep Ranchettes permit 216677--A	Well Constructed	Domestic	525	7	2014
Cuchara Pass Ranch permit 288819-	Well Constructed	Domestic	163	11	2012
Colorado Canyon permit 288856-	Well Constructed	Domestic	140	0	2012
River Pines Ranch permit 216031--A	Well Constructed	Domestic	222	0	2012
Spanish Highlands (filing: 3,4) permit 289100-	Well Constructed	Household Use Only	310	0	2012
Aguilar permit 289774-	Well Constructed	Irrigation	50	0	2012
Rancho la Garita permit 289364-	Well Constructed	Domestic	240	7	1999
Foreman Ranch permit 213363--A	Well Constructed	Domestic	725	10	2013
Cuchara Pass Ranch permit 228502--A	Well Constructed	Domestic	511	2.5	2014
Apishapa River Ranch permit 285758-	Well Constructed	Domestic	720	0	2011
Bighorn Sheep Ranchettes permit 286032-	Well Constructed	Domestic	644	7	2011
Apishipa River Ranch permit 286095-	Well Constructed	Household Use Only	760	0	2011
Spirit Mountain Ranch permit 286430-	Well Constructed	Domestic	540	7	2011
Twin Valley Ranch permit 286450-	Well Constructed	Domestic	340	5	2011
Big Pine Ranch permit 171854--A	Well Constructed	Domestic	153	0	2011
Fishers Peak Ranch permit 282451-	Well Constructed	Domestic	584	6	2010
Twin Valley Ranch permit 282827-	Well Constructed	Domestic	130	0	2011
Spirit Mountain Ranch permit 283116-	Well Constructed	Domestic	660	8	2010
Pine Ridge Hideaway permit 283072-	Well Constructed	Domestic	162	2.5	2010
Tatum Ranch permit 283177-	Well Constructed	Household Use Only	100	10	2010
Blackhawk Ranch permit 283329-	Well Constructed	Domestic	691	3.5	2010
Timber Ridge At Cordova Pass permit 283413-	Well Constructed	Domestic	20	0	2010
Cielo Grande permit 246895--A	Well Constructed	Domestic	120	0	2010
Trujillo Creek Ranch permit 263591--A	Well Constructed	Domestic	700	6.5	2010
Del Agua Canyon Ranches permit 283568-	Well Constructed	Domestic	840	7	2010
Blackhawk Ranch permit 283962-	Well Constructed	Domestic	300	5	2010
Blackhawk Ranch permit 283998-	Well Constructed	Domestic	277	9	2010
Primero Ranch permit 284151-	Well Constructed	Domestic	450	5.5	2010
Vermillion Valley Ranches permit 284519-	Well Constructed	Domestic	823	3	2011
Trujillo Creek Ranch permit 209524--A	Well Constructed	Domestic	982	0	2009

By decreed use in Las Animas County

Counties with a comparable register

Alamosa 10,088
Rio Grande 9,833
Morgan 9,779
Logan 9,308
Gunnison 8,894
Saguache 8,803
Summit 8,609
Routt 7,264
Custer 6,916
Kit Carson 6,777
Mesa 6,494
Conejos 5,774
Washington 5,722

Neighbours by the size of their register, not a ranking: the list slides with the county you are on, so each of the 63 county pages is reachable from the others. All of them.