Well Drilling in Huerfano County, CO

• Any address in Huerfano County can be submitted. Colorado's 2020 place-by-county file from the Census Bureau lists the city of Walsenburg, the town of La Veta and the Gardner census-designated place in Huerfano County, and its current TIGERweb layers (January 1, 2026 vintage) add the Cuchara census-designated place, whose internal point falls inside the county.
• Looking up an existing well: DWR's Well Permit Search and map viewer cover all registered well permits, and DWR says a permit file holds the well's allowable uses, the original application and any available well construction and pump installation records. DWR's Beginner's Guide to Well Permits (updated October 2025) notes that a well built on or after May 8, 1972 should have such a file, while a residential or livestock well put to use before that date might not have a permit.
• Finding a contractor: DWR's well construction page links the State Board of Examiners' licensed contractor lists, and the Beginner's Guide says the Board publishes a quarterly list of licensed well contractors who can help owners plug a well properly.

• New household or livestock wells, applied for on DWR's Residential Water Well Permit Application, Form GWS-44
• Replacement wells, which carry over the original well's allowed uses and are applied for on Form GWS-44 or GWS-45, depending on the use of the original well
• Wells in valley alluvium or in bedrock such as sandstone and limestone, the two aquifer types the USGS county study describes
• Pump work: Rule 17.1.3 calls for a pump installation report every time a new pump goes into a well and for any change in the pump depth setting
• Cisterns tied into a well supply, which Rule 17.1.8 has the pump installation contractor or private pump installer document as installed and disinfected
• Post-construction well inspection reports for wells built on or after May 8, 1972 that have no construction report on file, signed by a licensed contractor or authorized individual (Rule 17.1.9)
• Plugging and abandoning wells that are no longer used, followed by a Well Abandonment Report to the State Engineer

• Depth in Huerfano Park: the Colorado Geological Survey's Groundwater Atlas counts 136 water wells of record in Huerfano Park as of February 2001 and reports that about 70 percent were less than 100 feet deep and 90 percent were less than 325 feet deep, with water levels from near the surface to about 70 feet below it.
• Depth in the Raton Basin: the same atlas says that in Huerfano County water can generally be found in the Cuchara-Poison Canyon aquifer at depths of less than 200 feet in its outcrop areas, but that near the Spanish Peaks the aquifer may be dry to a depth of several hundred feet as a result of dissection by igneous intrusive rocks. For the Colorado part of the basin (Las Animas and Huerfano counties), where it counts almost 1,370 permitted water wells of record as of February 2001, it reports that the majority of permitted wells are less than 150 feet deep, 90 percent were completed at less than 450 feet, and the mean depth in its data set is 188 feet. These are basin-wide figures, not a forecast for any one lot.
• Yield and storage: the atlas puts about one-third of Huerfano Park wells below 5 gallons per minute and 90 percent below 20 gallons per minute, and says 85 percent of water supply wells of record in the Raton Basin reported less than 16 gallons per minute. DWR's guide says a low-yield well may still meet its purpose when used with properly sized storage tanks, water stored in the well itself and controlled pumping, gives 75 gallons per person per day for in-house use as a rule of thumb, and suggests that buyers consider a pump test by a qualified party such as a Colorado licensed pump installer or water well driller.
• Water quality: the 1966 USGS study found almost all alluvial water in the county hard, and most of it highly to very highly mineralized, some above 5,000 ppm dissolved solids. Rule 10.1.2 requires anyone authorized to construct wells to become familiar, before starting, with the area's potential aquifers, confining units, anticipated water quality problems and known contaminated water-bearing zones, and where necessary to advise the owner of possible poor water quality and plan how to resolve it before construction begins.
• Casing: Rules 10.4.2 and 10.4.3 call for watertight steel casing and joints from at least 1 foot above to at least 19 feet below ground level, whether or not the well has a separate surface casing string, with the annulus grouted under Rule 10.5 and the rules for that aquifer type. Rule 10.4.10 covers an outer casing cut off near the ground, and gallery wells and infiltration galleries need a Board variance under Rule 10.4.13.
• State fees versus our calculator: DWR's fee schedule (effective August 6, 2025) lists $100 for a new well permit application and $60 to replace a permitted exempt domestic, stock water or household well. Our calculator's estimate is depth times a per-foot rate tied to the geology option selected, plus a generic $200 to $500 permit allowance and pump and pressure-tank amounts drawn from national figures published by Angi, HomeGuide and HomeAdvisor; treat it as a planning number, not a quote or DWR's fee.

• Exempt wells, C.R.S. 37-92-602(1)(b): wells producing no more than 15 gallons per minute, used for ordinary household purposes, fire protection, watering poultry, domestic animals and livestock on farms and ranches, and irrigating not over one acre of home gardens and lawns, but not used for more than three single-family dwellings. Since July 1, 2006, subsection (3)(a)(II) allows such wells to be built only after a permit is issued.
• What a parcel can get: DWR's guide says household-use-only permits cover ordinary uses inside one single-family dwelling, with no outside watering or livestock, and are generally available for parcels created before June 1, 1972 or by a county exemption from subdivision rules; in most cases a parcel can have only one exempt well, and the in-house limit may apply to a new well on a parcel under 35 acres that is not in a court-approved augmentation plan. The broader domestic uses (up to three single-family dwellings, one acre or less of lawn and garden, domestic animals and livestock) may be available if the parcel is 35 acres or larger, is not in a court-approved augmentation plan or a subdivision created after June 1, 1972, and the well will be the only exempt well on a 35-acre or larger portion; or if the well is inside a Designated Groundwater Basin or the Denver Basin; or if it is not in an over-appropriated stream system, and the guide notes that most Colorado stream systems are over-appropriated, with only a few limited western-slope areas not considered so. DWR says no permit is guaranteed until its review is complete.
• Presumption of no injury, C.R.S. 37-92-602(3)(b)(II)(A): it applies to a (1)(b) well that will be the only well on a residential site and used solely inside a single-family dwelling with no irrigation, or the only well on a tract of 35 acres or more, or the only well on a cluster development lot serving one single-family residence where the development's withdrawals do not exceed one acre-foot a year for each 35 acres and the well is used solely for (1)(b) purposes; in each case the return flow must go back to the same stream system in which the well is located, and evidence showing material injury can rebut the presumption. Except as (3)(b)(IV) provides for an existing presumption well after its land is divided, under (3)(b)(III), for wells in a subdivision approved on or after June 1, 1972 whose water supply plan the State Engineer has not recommended for approval, the cumulative effect of all such wells is considered.
• Applying: DWR takes applications through its eForms dashboard or by email and does not process a form until the fee is paid. The person signing must be the applicant, an officer of an applicant company or agency, their attorney, or an agent authorized by a signed letter from the applicant or attorney. DWR says review of a complete application may take up to 49 days.
• Permit life: exempt and small-capacity permits are issued for two years, and the well must be drilled before the expiration date, with evidence of construction provided to DWR. An extension of one year at a time can be requested on Form GWS-64 with good cause, but only before the permit expires; after that a new permit is needed. Once the well was built on time, the pump can be installed and the well used at any time. If the work was done but forms were not filed in time, the guide points to State Engineer Guideline 2017-1 on reinstating expired permits.
• Who may drill or install pumps: C.R.S. 37-91-105(1), as amended by HB25-1165, requires an individual to obtain a Board license before engaging in the business of contracting for well construction, ground heat exchanger installation or pumping equipment installation, and to register each rig the individual or an employee operates or leases. Under 37-91-106 no license is required of an individual directly employed by or under the supervision of a licensed well construction, ground heat exchanger or pump installation contractor; of private drillers and private pump installers, who must still meet the construction standards of 37-91-110 and the Board's rules; or of a professional engineer, professional geologist or professional hydrologist, or anyone directly employed by or under the supervision of one, when sampling, measuring or test-pumping for scientific, engineering or regulatory purposes. Both private categories cover only work on a well entirely for the owner's own use: Rule 5.2.43 limits private drillers, and Rule 5.2.45 limits private pump installers, to well owners or their direct employees using the owner's own equipment (not rented, leased or hired) on land the owner owns (not rents or leases). Rules 6.1.1 and 6.1.2 require the private driller or private pump installer assessment before that work starts.
• On the job: Rule 6.2.2 makes the private driller, private pump installer or licensed contractor responsible for confirming a valid permit exists before and during the work. Under the official text of Rule 6.2.2.1, a copy of the permit must be available and posted at the well site at all times while a contractor works on a new well or performs work that requires a new well permit under Rule 6.2.1.2; DWR's well construction page words this more broadly, as any work that requires a well permit under Rule 6.2.1. If the permit's conditions call for it, the contractor gives the State Engineer advance notice before constructing the well, first installing the pump or installing a cistern connected to the well supply; DWR's well construction page asks for that notice by 11:59 pm the day before. All permitted work must be finished before the permit expires. Rule 6.2.1.2 calls for a new permit before changing a permitted well's production or grout interval, installing certain dewatering systems or installing pumping equipment that allows a sustained rate above the permitted rate, while Rule 6.2.1.3 lets casing or pumping equipment be pulled for repair or replacement without a new permit if the perforated interval is not altered and the production rate stays within the permit. For repairs, if a permit cannot be verified within 30 days of the work, Rule 6.2.2.2 has the individual notify the State Engineer on its form unless the work already calls for a construction, pump installation or other report.
• Siting, Rule 10.2.2: a well may not be closer than 100 feet to the nearest existing source of contaminants or 50 feet to a septic tank, exterior sewer line or other above- or below-ground vessel containing contaminants (excluded are properly maintained vessels for permitted chemigation products, properly maintained vessels mounted on vehicles, and properly maintained vessels mounted or carried on equipment used to build wells or install pumping equipment), measured at the time of construction. A well that cannot meet that spacing needs a variance request, prepared by a water well construction contractor or authorized individual from hydrogeologic information and meeting the Figure 4a or 4b minimums to the greatest extent possible, and written Board approval before construction. Rule 10.2.1 applies any stricter federal, state, county, municipal or local distance, and when a well being replaced sits less than 100 feet from a contaminant source, Rule 10.2.3 bars the replacement from being closer to that source and keeps the base of its grout seal at least 100 feet (Figure 4a) or 50 feet (Figure 4b) from the source's perimeter unless a variance is granted.
• Reports, Rule 17: the Well Construction and Yield Estimate Report, the pump installation report and the Well Abandonment Report, each with the contents Rule 17.1 lists, go to the State Engineer within 60 days after the work is completed or within 7 days after the permit or other authorization expires, whichever is sooner. They are signed by the contractor or authorized individual responsible, or by the private driller or private pump installer who did the work, and contractors must give the well owner a copy.
• Plugging, Rule 16.1: the well owner is ultimately responsible for having an unused well properly plugged, sealed and abandoned, the contractor or authorized individual must tell the owner of these requirements in writing, and pumping equipment comes out first. Licensed water well construction contractors may plug any type of well or hole; licensed pump installation contractors only wells that do not need casing removed where it penetrates more than one aquifer or casing ripped or perforated opposite confining units; authorized individuals only monitoring and observation wells and holes, dewatering wells, piezometer holes and test holes that do not penetrate a confining unit; private drillers and private pump installers only wells they own that need no casing removal (apart from cutting the top off below ground), ripping or perforating, and only after consulting a licensed water well construction contractor or Board staff. Backfill must be clean, inert and free of contaminants, and if casing is cut off below ground, Rule 16.1.4 requires either grout in the top 5 feet of the remaining casing, or a watertight cover permanently attached with the excavation filled with material no more permeable than the surrounding soil and compacted. The fill and grout methods for each aquifer type are set out in the rest of Rule 16.
• Buying a property: DWR's guide says that for residential sales on or after January 1, 2009 involving an existing well not yet registered with DWR, the buyer must complete a registration, with the forms, supporting documents and fees due within 60 days of closing; the seller may do it instead. Form GWS-12 covers residential and livestock wells built and put to use before May 8, 1972 and used for the same purposes since. Wells built on or after that date, or whose use changed or expanded after it, go on Form GWS-44, with a Post-Construction Well Inspection Report (GWS-68) or a construction report signed by a licensed water well contractor for the newer wells, or a Statement for Wells Constructed Prior to May 8, 1972 (GWS-81) signed by the owner for older ones.
• Septic work on the same lot: the Las Animas-Huerfano Counties District Health Department permits on-site wastewater treatment systems in both counties, requires the permit application and fee to be submitted and approved before installation begins (a permit may also be required to repair, replace or alter a system), and its application asks for a measured plot plan showing the property dimensions and size, existing and proposed buildings, the proposed septic tank, treatment area and alternate area, water supply lines, all existing or proposed wells on and within 150 feet of the property, and streams, lakes, ditches and drainage areas on or within 50 feet.

• Raton Basin: the Colorado Geological Survey describes a north-northwest trending structural basin in Las Animas and Huerfano counties that runs from near the Huerfano River valley south into New Mexico. It groups the Raton, Vermejo and Trinidad formations as the Raton-Vermejo-Trinidad Aquifer, the basin's deepest, and the sandstones and siltstones of the Cuchara and Poison Canyon formations as the Cuchara-Poison Canyon Aquifer, whose water generally meets the 500 mg/L secondary standard for total dissolved solids around the basin edges and becomes less potable toward the center.
• Huerfano Park: the atlas places the Wet Mountain Valley and Huerfano Park in parts of Fremont, Custer and northwestern Huerfano counties, calls Huerfano Park a very complex structural basin on the east side of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and says its streams generally flow south toward the Huerfano River, a tributary of the Arkansas. It reports that most groundwater withdrawals in the two basins come from basin-fill deposits, including units of the Dry Union, Farisita, Huerfano, Cuchara and Poison Canyon formations.
• Rock at the surface: the USGS state geologic map compilation lists the Poison Canyon Formation and undivided Pierre Shale at 12 percent each of the county's surface, the Niobrara Formation at 11 percent and the Cuchara Formation at 10 percent, and notes that its Huerfano Formation unit includes the Farisita Conglomerate in northwestern Huerfano County.
• Valley alluvium: the 1966 USGS study found alluvium up to about 50 feet thick in Huerfano Valley and probably no more than 30 feet in the valleys of the Cucharas River and Bear, Santa Clara, Muddy and Apache creeks, and said the alluvium of smaller valleys yields enough water for domestic and stock use only in a few places.
• Bedrock aquifers: the same study names the Entrada Sandstone, the Cheyenne Sandstone Member of the Purgatoire Formation, the Dakota Sandstone, the Greenhorn Limestone, a limestone-sandstone aquifer, the Trinidad Sandstone, the Vermejo and Raton formations, and the Poison Canyon and Cuchara formations as able to supply domestic and stock water, adding that other formations may yield small supplies locally. It read the near absence of water in many interstream coal mines as a sign of comparatively little movement along the strike of the coal-bearing rocks, suggested the many igneous dikes radiating from the Spanish Peaks and Dike Mountain may impede it, and noted that some dikes may transmit water readily.

Walsenburg · La Veta · Gardner · Cuchara · Huerfano Park