Well permits in Lincoln County

4,107 well permits — 0.7% of Colorado’s register. The median well here is 53 feet deep, against 148 feet statewide.

4,107Permits

53 ftMedian depth

516Expired

43Denver Basin aquifer

How deep people drill in Lincoln 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	53 ft	152 ft	148 ft — shallower here (2,768 permits, 67 %)
Yield	10 gpm	26 gpm	10 gpm — the same here (581 permits, 14 %)
Static water level	34 ft	120 ft	58 ft — lower here (1,940 permits, 47 %)

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
Stock	1,666	40.6%
Domestic	1,331	32.4%
Monitoring/sampling	527	12.8%
Irrigation	328	8.0%
Other	70	1.7%
Commercial	58	1.4%
Not stated	44	1.1%
Municipal	38	0.9%
Household Use Only	22	0.5%
Industrial	15	0.4%
Fire	4	0.1%
Geothermal	3	0.1%

What happened to these permits

2,279 of the 4,107 permits in Lincoln County ended with a well the Division was told about — 55.5%. And 516 expired without one: 12.6%.

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	2,279	55.5%
Permit Expired	516	12.6%
Well Abandoned	416	10.1%
Permit Issued	206	5.0%
	165	4.0%
Permit Canceled	146	3.6%
Well Replaced - Abandonment Required	132	3.2%
Final Permit	56	1.4%
Application Information Requested	55	1.3%
Application Denied	37	0.9%

Which aquifers

Aquifer	Permits	Share
All Unnamed Aquifers	3,529	85.9%
Ogallala	266	6.5%
Alluvial	104	2.5%
Quaternary Alluvium	84	2.0%
Not stated	77	1.9%
Pierre Shale	16	0.4%
Upper Pierre	10	0.2%
Laramie Fox Hills	6	0.1%
High Plains Aquifer	6	0.1%
Denver	4	0.1%

When the permits were issued

Issued in	Permits	Share
2020s	218	5.3%
2010s	518	12.6%
2000s	544	13.2%
1990s	681	16.6%
1980s	323	7.9%
1970s	288	7.0%
1960s	176	4.3%
1950s	60	1.5%

Buying land in Lincoln County, or need a well drilled?

4,107 well permits are on the Division’s register in Lincoln County, 516 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 Lincoln County

Well permits, Lincoln County — 99 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
Wagon Wheel Ranch permit 151935--A	Well Constructed	Domestic	300	12	2024
Foxx Mesa Ranch permit 336182-	Well Constructed	Domestic	500	6	2024
Foxx Mesa Ranch permit 334210-	Well Constructed	Domestic	500	10	2024
Limon Tracts permit 319104-	Well Constructed	Stock	20	18	2021
Foxx Mesa Ranch permit 310390-	Well Constructed	Domestic	498	13	2018
Foxx Mesa Ranch permit 304563-	Well Constructed	Domestic	460	7	2017
Lincoln Ranches permit 296796-	Well Constructed	Domestic	255	10	2015
Falcon Ranch permit 298280-	Well Constructed	Domestic	255	10	2015
Coffman Acres permit 37989--A	Well Constructed	Domestic	70	15	2015
Foxx Mesa Ranch permit 294923-	Well Constructed	Domestic	455	13	2014
Falcon Ranch permit 291268-	Well Constructed	Domestic	320	11	2013
Wagon Wheel Ranch permit 285578-	Well Constructed	Domestic	340	10	2011
Foxx Mesa Ranch permit 283248-	Well Constructed	Domestic	0	0	2010
Foxx Mesa Ranch permit 277249-	Well Constructed	Domestic	440	11	2008
Soloman Addition To Town of Hugo permit 47564-MH	Well Constructed	Monitoring/sampling	22	0	2007
Foxx Mesa Ranch permit 271995-	Well Constructed	Domestic	420	0	2007
Pershings Addition permit 273595-	Well Constructed	Irrigation	30	0	2007
Ted Lyons permit 270150-	Well Constructed	Domestic	60	15	2006
Foxx Mesa Ranch permit 256750-	Well Constructed	Domestic	425	15	2004
Foxx Mesa Ranch permit 256751-	Well Constructed	Domestic	420	0	2004
Lincoln Ranch permit 258762-	Well Constructed	Domestic	260	10	2004
Falcon Ranch permit 250458-	Well Constructed	Domestic	300	11	2003
Foxx Mesa Ranch permit 253812-	Well Constructed	Domestic	430	0	2004
Pershings Addition permit 240359-	Well Constructed	Domestic	18	0	2002
Pershings Addition permit 241966-	Well Constructed	Domestic	15	0	2002
Pershings Addition permit 241966--A	Well Constructed	Domestic	30	12	2002
Lincoln Ranch permit 231441-	Well Constructed	Domestic	300	10	2002
Lincoln Ranch permit 231930-	Well Constructed	Domestic	275	8	2001
Highland Park (filing: 1) permit 55480-F	Well Constructed	Domestic	340	10	2001
Lincoln Ranches permit 232927-	Well Constructed	Domestic	260	10	2001
Coffman Acres permit 235383-	Well Constructed	Domestic	55	10	2002
Wagon Wheel Ranch permit 224422-	Well Constructed	Domestic	320	10	2000
Falcon Ranch permit 226470-	Well Constructed	Domestic	295	12	2000
Pershings Addition permit 230303--A	Well Constructed	Domestic	30	10	2001
Falcon Ranch permit 216931-	Well Constructed	Domestic	300	10	1999
Immels permit 220476--A	Well Constructed	Domestic	60	2	1999
Pershings Addition permit 18597--A	Well Constructed	Domestic	32	10	2001
Ratliffs Addition permit 33346-MH	Well Constructed	Monitoring/sampling	24	0	1998
Coffman Acres permit 214754-	Well Constructed	Domestic	55	0	1998
Wagon Wheel Ranch permit 194397-	Well Constructed	Domestic	200	7	1996
Application Parcel Name Missing permit 200339-	Well Constructed	Domestic	300	12	1997
Falcon Ranch permit 184738-	Well Constructed	Domestic	255	11	1995
Falcon Ranch permit 188215-	Well Constructed	Domestic	285	12	1995
Falcon Ranch permit 182929-	Well Constructed	Domestic	305	12	1994
Coffman Acres permit 159226-	Well Constructed	Household Use Only	47	0	1991
Pershings Addition permit 151200--A	Well Constructed	Domestic	34	0	1988
Karval, Town of (page Addition permit 150202-	Well Constructed	Domestic	45	0	1987
Karval, Town of permit 146688-	Well Constructed	Domestic	50	0	1987
Karval, Town of permit 150204-	Well Constructed	Domestic	50	0	1987
Falcon Ranch permit 149279-	Well Constructed	Domestic	291	10	1987
Arriba Town of permit 143629-	Well Constructed	Domestic	107	0	1986
Coffman Acres permit 132365-	Well Constructed	Household Use Only	55	13	1983
Bovina permit 121635-	Well Constructed	Domestic	60	0	1981
Pershing permit 117483-	Well Constructed	Domestic	40	0	1980
Immels permit 107923--A	Well Constructed	Domestic	56	0	1979
Immels permit 107916--A	Well Constructed	Domestic	55	8	1979
Pershing Addition permit 109814-	Well Constructed	Domestic	21	0	1979
Pershing Addition permit 106498-	Well Constructed	Domestic	35	0	1979
Nutting permit 92444--A	Well Constructed	Domestic	32	0	1979
Coffman Acres permit 30468-	Well Constructed	Stock	40	0	1967
Bovina permit 17-WCB	Well Constructed	Domestic	43	0	1953
Bovina permit 18-WCB	Well Constructed	Domestic	38	0	1953
Karval, Town of	Well Constructed	Domestic	0	0	—
Karval, Town of	Well Constructed	Domestic	0	0	—
Genoa Town of permit 67-RN	Well Constructed	Domestic	60	0	1968
Limon - Immels permit 20208-	Well Constructed	Domestic	60	0	1964
Pershing permit 26747-	Well Constructed	Domestic	38	0	1966
Vista Ranch Ii permit 342879-	Permit Issued	Domestic	0	0	2026
Vista Ridge permit 343297-	Permit Issued	Domestic	0	0	2026
Bovina permit 338669-	Permit Issued	Domestic	0	0	2025
Bovina permit 338670-	Permit Issued	Domestic	0	0	2025
Foxx Mesa Ranch permit 324796-	Permit Expired	Domestic	0	0	2021
Pershings Addition permit 309697-	Permit Issued	Domestic	0	0	2018
Foxx Mesa Ranch permit 258832-	Permit Expired	Domestic	0	0	2004
Wagon Wheel Ranch permit 238675-	Permit Expired	Domestic	220	10	2002
Pershings Addition permit 230303-	Well Abandoned	Domestic	30	0	2000
Ratliffs Addition permit 52635-FP	Final Permit	Commercial	0	0.12	1999
Ratliffs Addition permit 52636-FP	Final Permit	Commercial	0	0.12	1998
Ratliffs Addition permit 52637-FP	Final Permit	Commercial	0	0.12	1999
Immels permit 220476-	Well Abandoned	Domestic	35	0	1999
Wagon Wheel Ranch permit 193825-	Permit Expired	Domestic	0	0	1996
Ponderosa East (filing: 2) permit 95383-VE	Permit Issued	Domestic	0	0	1995
Lincoln Ranch permit 153932-	Permit Expired	Domestic	0	0	1989
Pershing permit 117483--A	Permit Expired	Domestic	0	0	1980
Pershing Addition permit 109814--A	Permit Issued	Domestic	0	0	1979
Big Horse Creek permit 72934-	Permit Expired	Domestic	0	0	1974
Coffman Acres permit 37989-	Well Abandoned	Domestic	60	0	1969
Pershing permit 23289-	Well Abandoned	Domestic	36	0	1965
Town of Bovina permit 21010-RFP	Final Permit	Domestic	62	40	1964
Genoa Town of permit 2003002-AB	Well Abandoned	Other	0	0	—
Lost Acres permit 7681-AD	Application Denied	Irrigation	0	0	—
Bucklin Addition permit 1752-	Permit Canceled	Household Use Only	0	0	—
Bucklin Addition permit 1773-	Permit Canceled	Household Use Only	0	0	—
Horse Creek Ranch permit 77633-	Permit Expired	Domestic	0	0	—
Horsecreek permit 79387-	Permit Expired	Domestic	0	0	—
Horse Creek Ranch permit 80206-	Permit Expired	Domestic	0	0	—
Horse Creek Ranch permit 83001-	Permit Expired	Domestic	0	0	—
Foxx Mesa Ranch	Application Information Requested	Domestic	0	0	—
3rd Ave permit 4670-		Domestic	0	0	—
342257-	Well Constructed	Domestic	123	3	2026
342270-	Well Constructed	Domestic	340	12	2026
342680-	Well Constructed	Domestic	340	0	2026
342689-	Well Constructed	Domestic	340	12	2026
342690-	Well Constructed	Domestic	340	0	2026
342758-	Well Constructed	Domestic	340	12	2026
343061-	Well Constructed	Domestic	360	0	2026
340616-	Well Constructed	Domestic	50	0	1970
15569-F-R	Well Constructed	Irrigation	50	120	2025
339723-	Well Constructed	Stock	65	11	2025
339216-	Well Constructed	Domestic	160	6	2025

By decreed use in Lincoln County

Domestic in Lincoln County — 1,331
Stock in Lincoln County — 1,666

Counties with a comparable register

Baca 5,424
Pitkin 4,805
Eagle 4,742
Gilpin 4,606
Moffat 4,379
Costilla 4,256
Huerfano 4,190
Montrose 3,965
Delta 3,935
Prowers 3,895
Archuleta 3,805
Rio Blanco 3,486
San Miguel 3,416

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.