# What a Colorado well permit lets you use the water for

> The 600,017 permits by decreed use — domestic, household use only, irrigation, stock, monitoring. What each one allows.

## What the water may be used for

A well permit is not a general right to water. It names what the water may be used for, and the narrowest of them is narrower than most buyers expect.

| Decreed use | Permits | Share |
|---|---|---|
| [Domestic](/use/domestic.md) | 243,096 | 40.5% |
| [Household Use Only](/use/household-use-only.md) | 105,372 | 17.6% |
| [Monitoring/sampling](/use/monitoring-sampling.md) | 91,022 | 15.2% |
| [Irrigation](/use/irrigation.md) | 47,689 | 7.9% |
| [Stock](/use/stock.md) | 31,328 | 5.2% |
| [Commercial](/use/commercial.md) | 22,356 | 3.7% |
| [Other](/use/other.md) | 18,823 | 3.1% |
| [Not stated](/use/not-stated.md) | 15,448 | 2.6% |
| [Municipal](/use/municipal.md) | 9,424 | 1.6% |
| [Industrial](/use/industrial.md) | 8,665 | 1.4% |
| [Geothermal](/use/geothermal.md) | 3,815 | 0.6% |

### What each one allows

#### [Domestic](/use/domestic.md)

household water, and usually a little more — the commonest decreed use in Colorado by a wide margin.

#### [Household Use Only](/use/household-use-only.md)

the narrowest domestic permit there is: water inside the house, and nothing else. No lawn, no livestock, no garden. It is the use most often misunderstood by a buyer who assumes a well means water for the land.

#### [Monitoring/sampling](/use/monitoring-sampling.md)

not a water supply at all — a hole drilled to watch the groundwater. These sit on the same register and are not wells anyone drinks from.

#### [Irrigation](/use/irrigation.md)

watering land, at the volume the permit allows.

#### [Stock](/use/stock.md)

watering livestock.

#### [Commercial](/use/commercial.md)

water for a business.

#### [Other](/use/other.md)

a use the Division records under this heading.

#### [Not stated](/use/not-stated.md)

the file records no decreed use.

#### [Municipal](/use/municipal.md)

a public water supply.

#### [Industrial](/use/industrial.md)

water for an industrial process.

#### [Geothermal](/use/geothermal.md)

a use the Division records under this heading.

⚠️ The difference between *domestic* and *household
use only* is the one that catches people. Household use only is water
inside the house: no lawn, no livestock, no garden. A parcel with that permit
is not a parcel you can irrigate.

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Página: https://wells-co.pages.dev/use/
Fonte: Well Application Permit — Colorado Division of Water Resources
Recolha: 2026-08-21