Colorado ยท county water record
Water in Boulder County
What the state and federal record says about water here, before you look at any particular piece of ground. Every finding names the agency it came from.
- 4,105 Live water rights across 743 square miles
- 13,761 Wells drilled across 743 square miles
- 39,572 ac Irrigated ground across 743 square miles
- 175 ft Well depth middle value across 533 of 743 square miles
- 180 days Days called out middle value across 415 of 743 square miles
Point at any square mile to read what is on it. Hover the maps below to compare them.
Boulder County by the square mile
Every finding on this page is one number for the whole county. These are the same records placed on the ground they came from.
Live water rights. Decreed rights still on the books. This is where the paper water is, which is not the same map as where anybody drilled.
- none on record (bare ground)
- up to 1
- 2
- 3
- 4 to 6
- 7 to 16
- over 16
743 surveyed sections, drawn one square mile to a square. The shading is scaled against every county in Colorado, so a colour means the same thing on any of these pages. The outline is the county boundary from the Census Bureau: ground inside the line and outside the shading is ground nobody has drilled, filed on or addressed. Aerial imagery is the USGS National Map.
Stands out
There are dams here that would take lives if they failed
36 of this county's 115 dams are rated high hazard. Hazard is about what is DOWNSTREAM rather than about the dam's condition, so a high-hazard rating means people or roads below it, and it is what drives the inspection and the owner's liability.
Colorado Dam Safety 2 of 54 counties
36 here 2nd of 54 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Stands out
Wells here have had to be re-drilled deeper
78 wells carry a later record more than 20% deeper than their first. Colorado publishes no water-level trend, so a well going back down is the closest thing to one.
CDSS well permit action history 3 of 59 counties
78 here 3rd of 59 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Worth knowing
Towns hold a large share of the water here
38% of rights allow municipal use. Municipal rights are senior more often than not and rarely come back on the market, so they shape what is left for everyone else.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 7 of 58 counties
38% here 7th of 58 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Worth knowing
Wells here make very little water
The typical well makes 7 gallons a minute, against 12 gpm across the state. Workable for a house, a problem for livestock or irrigation.
CDSS well permits 7 of 60 counties
7 gpm here 7th of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Worth knowing
A lot of this county is wet ground
75% of sections carry poorly drained soil, meaning a water table close to the surface for part of the year. A foundation and septic constraint, and often the most productive ground on a property.
USDA SSURGO soil survey 9 of 59 counties
75% here 9th of 59 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Context
Water here is called out for a large part of the year
The median right is out of priority 119 days a year on DWR's own analysis. The worst year on record here was 331 days.
DWR administrative call analysis 11 of 20 counties
119 days here 11th of 20 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Worth knowing
Water systems here have unresolved health violations
4 of this county's 41 community water systems carry a health-based violation that has not been returned to compliance. Health-based means contamination or a treatment failure, not late paperwork.
EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System 11 of 44 counties
4 here 11th of 44 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Worth knowing
Dams here are rated unsatisfactory
4 of this county's 115 dams carry an unsatisfactory condition rating. A storage right behind a failing dam is water you cannot count on.
Colorado Dam Safety 12 of 42 counties
4 here 12th of 42 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Worth knowing
Wells here get plugged and abandoned more than most
12.8% of well permits end in a plugging, 1,467 wells in all. A well sealed shut is the clearest verdict a driller ever files.
CDSS well permit action history 16 of 60 counties
12.8% here 16th of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Stands out
The senior water here was claimed before Colorado was a state
The oldest appropriation on record in this county is 1859, which predates statehood in 1876. Seniority is the whole of Colorado water law and it is absolute: a right from the 1850s is in front of everything filed since, every year, in every dry year.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 4 of 60 counties
1859 here 4th of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Context
Half the wells drilled here never had a pump put in
60% of constructed wells have no pump installation on record. Somebody paid to drill a hole and walked away from it. A permit says you may drill; this is what happened when people did.
CDSS well permit action history 27 of 60 counties
60% here 27th of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Context
Ground here is prime farmland, but only if it is irrigated
42% of sections carry soil the USDA classes as 'prime farmland if irrigated'. That qualifier is the whole sentence: the soil is excellent and the classification depends on water reaching it. It is what an appraiser and a conservation easement both test against.
USDA SSURGO soil survey 29 of 52 counties
42% here 29th of 52 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
This is the county. Your question is probably a property.
None of the above is about a particular parcel. Water is not parcel-shaped: the ditch serving the ground runs through other people's land and the senior right that curtails it sits somewhere else, which is why the state files by survey section rather than by property. Check an address and you get the square mile it sits in, with the wells, the rights and what was actually diverted.
Check a property in Boulder County