Well permits in Rio Blanco County

3,486 well permits — 0.6% of Colorado’s register. The median well here is 100 feet deep, against 148 feet statewide.

3,486Permits

100 ftMedian depth

590Expired

0Denver Basin aquifer

How deep people drill in Rio Blanco 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	100 ft	4560 ft	148 ft — shallower here (1,610 permits, 46 %)
Yield	12 gpm	30 gpm	10 gpm — higher here (293 permits, 8 %)
Static water level	30 ft	180 ft	58 ft — lower here (951 permits, 27 %)

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
Domestic	1,195	34.3%
Commercial	659	18.9%
Monitoring/sampling	601	17.2%
Other	295	8.5%
Stock	261	7.5%
Municipal	146	4.2%
Industrial	137	3.9%
Household Use Only	75	2.2%
Irrigation	62	1.8%
Not stated	43	1.2%
Geothermal	7	0.2%
Fishery	2	0.1%

What happened to these permits

1,672 of the 3,486 permits in Rio Blanco County ended with a well the Division was told about — 48.0%. And 590 expired without one: 16.9%.

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	1,672	48.0%
Permit Expired	590	16.9%
Permit Issued	398	11.4%
Application Denied	250	7.2%
Well Abandoned	183	5.2%
Application Information Requested	149	4.3%
Permit Canceled	102	2.9%
Application Received	71	2.0%
Well Replaced - Abandonment Required	30	0.9%
Application Withdrawn	13	0.4%

Which aquifers

Aquifer	Permits	Share
All Unnamed Aquifers	3,268	93.7%
Alluvial	107	3.1%
Not stated	68	2.0%
Uinta	9	0.3%
Williams Fork	8	0.2%
Green River	6	0.2%
Wasatch	4	0.1%
Unconfined San Luis Valley Aquifer	4	0.1%
Wasatch-fort Union	3	0.1%
Mancos	2	0.1%

When the permits were issued

Issued in	Permits	Share
2020s	497	14.3%
2010s	810	23.2%
2000s	624	17.9%
1990s	323	9.3%
1980s	236	6.8%
1970s	203	5.8%
1960s	23	0.7%
1950s	2	0.1%

Buying land in Rio Blanco County, or need a well drilled?

3,486 well permits are on the Division’s register in Rio Blanco County, 590 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 Rio Blanco County

Well permits, Rio Blanco 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
Green Meadows Acres permit 338728-	Well Constructed	Domestic	390	0	1981
Elk Creek Pud permit 338240-	Well Constructed	Domestic	51	0	2025
Elk Creek Pud permit 338280-	Well Constructed	Domestic	46	0	2025
Fitzgerald permit 338555-	Well Constructed	Domestic	14	15	1996
Mcknight Minor permit 338624-	Well Constructed	Domestic	400	7	2007
Meadows permit 338752-	Well Constructed	Domestic	40	0	2020
Atwood Minor permit 338814-	Well Constructed	Domestic	180	0	2003
Riverbend permit 338852-	Well Constructed	Domestic	55	10	1993
Mountain View permit 338845-	Well Constructed	Domestic	83	0	2026
Moyer Minor permit 339002-	Well Constructed	Domestic	115	0	1962
Moyer Minor permit 339003-	Well Constructed	Domestic	100	0	1972
Shelton Minor permit 339061-	Well Constructed	Domestic	320	0	1979
Atwood Minor permit 339122-	Well Constructed	Domestic	150	0	1970
Mountain View permit 339161-	Well Constructed	Domestic	80	0	2026
Mountain View permit 339163-	Well Constructed	Domestic	100	30	1982
Strawberry Creek Minor (mcphail) permit 339719-	Well Constructed	Household Use Only	210	0	2026
Sleepy Cat Minor permit 333871-	Well Constructed	Domestic	38	0	2025
Sleepy Cat Minor permit 333869-	Well Constructed	Domestic	58	0	2025
Two Rivers Estates permit 335264-	Well Constructed	Domestic	76	15	2024
Two Rivers Estates permit 335501-	Well Constructed	Domestic	49	0	2024
Mountain View permit 336120-	Well Constructed	Domestic	85	0	2025
Fourteen Mile permit 336907-	Well Constructed	Domestic	315	0	2025
Green Meadow Ac permit 332088-	Well Constructed	Domestic	60	10	2024
Alan Nielsen Minor permit 326222-	Well Constructed	Domestic	120	0	2022
Fourteen Mile permit 327647-	Well Constructed	Domestic	163	15	2022
Robinson permit 328051-	Well Constructed	Domestic	280	0	2022
Sheridan Minor permit 321947-	Well Constructed	Domestic	80	14	2021
Parker Minor permit 322176-	Well Constructed	Domestic	55	0	2021
Spruce Gulch permit 322801-	Well Constructed	Domestic	280	0	2021
Barton Minor Subdivision No. 2 permit 324088-	Well Constructed	Domestic	303	0	2023
M & L Steele Minor permit 324140-	Well Constructed	Domestic	25	0	2022
White River Rancho Estates permit 277029--A	Well Constructed	Domestic	58	0	2020
White River Rancho Estates permit 313070-	Well Constructed	Domestic	300	10	2019
Rolling R Ranch permit 313706-	Well Constructed	Domestic	200	10	2020
Rolling R Ranch permit 310729-	Well Constructed	Domestic	180	0	1998
Meadows permit 311671-	Well Constructed	Domestic	30	0	2023
Rolling R Ranch permit 311534-	Well Constructed	Domestic	235	0	2019
Mccoy Minor permit 305208-	Well Constructed	Domestic	180	15	2018
Mccoy permit 305196-	Well Constructed	Domestic	160	0	2018
Federal Coal Lease C-8425 permit 80500-F	Well Constructed	Industrial	0	0	2015
Rolling R permit 302372-	Well Constructed	Domestic	245	0	2016
White permit 54598-MH	Well Constructed	Monitoring/sampling	32	0	2015
Sheridan Minor permit 293834-	Well Constructed	Domestic	25	0	2014
Elk Creek Ranch Upper Mtn permit 294141-	Well Constructed	Domestic	40	0	2014
Elk Creek Ranch Upper Mtn permit 294146-	Well Constructed	Domestic	30	0	2014
Warner Point #3 permit 290545-	Well Constructed	Domestic	25	15	2013
Weiss Minor permit 291601-	Well Constructed	Domestic	140	0	2013
Villa Minor permit 288319-	Well Constructed	Domestic	0	0	2012
Elk Creek Pud permit 289515-	Well Constructed	Domestic	35	15	2013
Tucker Minor permit 285332-	Well Constructed	Domestic	0	0	1983
Two Rivers Estates permit 286967-	Well Constructed	Domestic	55	0	1971
Two Rivers Estates permit 287133-	Well Constructed	Domestic	80	15	2013
Warner Point No. 2 permit 283573-	Well Constructed	Domestic	160	13	2010
Heritage Estates permit 280793-	Well Constructed	Domestic	400	8	2010
Little Rancho Estates permit 277655-	Well Constructed	Domestic	200	2	2008
Little Beaver Estates permit 275671-	Well Constructed	Domestic	600	0	2008
Little Rancho Estates permit 273690-	Well Constructed	Domestic	220	0	2007
Lance Point permit 274976-	Well Constructed	Household Use Only	200	0	2007
Lance Point permit 275252-	Well Constructed	Household Use Only	280	12	2007
Lance Point permit 275253-	Well Constructed	Household Use Only	240	8.2	2007
14 Mile Ranch permit 275379-	Well Constructed	Domestic	260	4	2007
Parker Minor permit 275672-	Well Constructed	Domestic	235	0	2008
Peters permit 267445-	Well Constructed	Domestic	305	1.5	2006
Little Rancho Estates permit 268945-	Well Constructed	Domestic	48	0	2006
Little Rancho Estates permit 269870-	Well Constructed	Domestic	120	0	2006
Little Rancho Estates permit 269879-	Well Constructed	Domestic	120	4	2006
Elk Creek Ranch permit 270717-	Well Constructed	Domestic	66	0	2006
Elk Creek Ranch permit 270718-	Well Constructed	Domestic	36	0	2008
Elk Creek Ranch permit 270722-	Well Constructed	Domestic	43	4	2008
Elk Creek Ranch permit 270724-	Well Constructed	Domestic	60	0	2006
Elk Creek Ranch permit 270727-	Well Constructed	Domestic	73	15	2008
Elk Creek Ranch permit 270728-	Well Constructed	Domestic	45	0	2008
Elk Creek Ranch permit 270730-	Well Constructed	Domestic	38	15	2008
Elk Creek Ranch permit 270731-	Well Constructed	Domestic	130	0	2010
Elk Creek Ranch permit 270732-	Well Constructed	Domestic	51	0	2008
Elk Creek Ranch permit 270734-	Well Constructed	Domestic	66	0	2006
Elk Creek Ranch permit 270737-	Well Constructed	Domestic	66	0	2006
Elk Creek Ranch permit 271214-	Well Constructed	Domestic	180	0	2010
Elk Creek Ranch permit 271233-	Well Constructed	Domestic	510	0	2011
Elk Creek Ranch permit 271236-	Well Constructed	Domestic	390	0	2010
Elk Creek Ranch permit 271238-	Well Constructed	Domestic	630	0	2010
Buckskin Valley permit 62686-F	Well Constructed	Domestic	250	30	1966
Warner Point (filing: 2) permit 263782-	Well Constructed	Domestic	68	0	2006
Mcknight Minor permit 263566-	Well Constructed	Domestic	455	0	2005
Hildenbrandt's permit 265458-	Well Constructed	Domestic	45	0	2008
Fourteen Mile permit 266125-	Well Constructed	Domestic	4	0	2008
Little Rancho Estates permit 266293-	Well Constructed	Domestic	320	0	2007
Little Rancho Estates permit 256658-	Well Constructed	Domestic	360	5	2004
White River Rancho Estates permit 259475-	Well Constructed	Domestic	205	0	2005
White River Rancho Estates permit 260395-	Well Constructed	Domestic	278	4	2005
Warner Point (filing: 2) permit 250902-	Well Constructed	Domestic	26	15	2005
Little Rancho Estates permit 251762-	Well Constructed	Domestic	220	0	2003
Mcguire Minor permit 254135-	Well Constructed	Domestic	193	7	2003
Sagebrush Suites permit 242196-	Well Constructed	Domestic	165	0	2002
Curtis Creek Industrial Park permit 55670-F	Well Constructed	Commercial	42	30	2002
Sage Brush Suites permit 233976-	Well Constructed	Domestic	160	0	2001
Little Beaver Estates permit 236174-	Well Constructed	Domestic	540	0	1999
Sloan Minor permit 236175-	Well Constructed	Household Use Only	305	0	2001
Strawberry permit 224632-	Well Constructed	Domestic	245	5	2000
Mellor permit 226670-	Well Constructed	Domestic	10	0	1980
Little Beaver Estates permit 224650-	Well Constructed	Domestic	200	0	2000
Meadows (filing: 1) permit 227992-	Well Constructed	Domestic	35	13	2000
Little Beaver Estates permit 216247-	Well Constructed	Domestic	140	0	1999
Fraser permit 49596-F	Well Constructed	Commercial	330	0	1982
Sloan Minor permit 209189-	Well Constructed	Household Use Only	260	0	1998
Purple Sage permit 210187-	Well Constructed	Domestic	180	5	1998
May Minor permit 203365-	Well Constructed	Domestic	200	12	1997
Fitzgerald permit 192537-	Well Constructed	Domestic	55	0	1997
Bell Estates permit 176275-	Well Constructed	Domestic	130	0	1994
Warner Point #3 permit 177595-	Well Constructed	Domestic	60	0	1995

By decreed use in Rio Blanco County

Domestic in Rio Blanco County — 1,195

Counties with a comparable register

Costilla 4,256
Huerfano 4,190
Lincoln 4,107
Montrose 3,965
Delta 3,935
Prowers 3,895
Archuleta 3,805
San Miguel 3,416
Otero 3,393
Phillips 2,865
Lake 2,756
Bent 2,362
Sedgwick 2,293

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.