Colorado · counties
Water in Douglas County
What the state and federal record says about water across Douglas County. Each figure names the agency it came from.
Can I drill a well here?
It depends on your lot: its size, and when it was created
-
Where the lot decides (over-appropriated ground)
What a household well may serve depends on the lot's size and on when and how it was created:
Lot of 35 acres or more
A household well can serve up to three homes, one acre of lawn and garden, and livestock. A 35-acre tract platted as part of a subdivision counts as part of the subdivision instead.
Under 35 acres, created before June 1, 1972 or by a county exemption
A household well for use inside one house only. No lawn, garden or livestock.
Under 35 acres, in a subdivision approved June 1, 1972 or later
No well by right. DWR weighs every well in the subdivision together, so in practice the subdivision's own water supply plan decides what a well may do.
- One exempt well per legal parcel. Inside a town or a water district's service area DWR generally issues no household well permit.
What has actually been permitted in Douglas County
- 1,693household well permits issued since 2015
- 165of them for use inside the house only
- 1,528for full household use
- 441feet, the typical depth
- 13gallons a minute, the typical yield
CDSS well permits Decided by: DWR, at permit application. Appeals go to the water judge within 35 days.
- 7,104 Live water rights across 839 square miles
- 14,249 Wells drilled across 839 square miles
- 716 ac Irrigated ground across 839 square miles
- 350 ft Well depth middle value across 626 of 839 square miles
- 257 days Days called out middle value across 406 of 839 square miles
Point at any square mile to read what is on it. Hover the maps below to compare them.
Douglas County by the square mile
Each figure below is one number for the whole county. The map places the same records on the ground, square mile by square mile.
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
839 surveyed sections, drawn one square mile to a square. The shading is scaled against every county in Colorado, so a color 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.
Wells here have to go a long way down
The typical well is 360 feet deep, against 105 ft in the median county, drawing denver basin bedrock. Depth is the cost before the water is.
CDSS well permits 1 of 64 counties
360 ft here 1st of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
The water table here sits far below the surface
The median static water level is 190 feet down, against 48 ft in the median county. That is pumping cost every day the well runs.
CDSS well permits 1 of 64 counties
190 ft here 1st of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
A large share of the water rights on paper here are dead
Only 58% of this county's 12,336 rights are still live, against 94% in the median county. A records search here turns up a great deal of history alongside the water.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 2 of 60 counties
58% here 2nd of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Many decrees here name a structure that no longer exists
42% of rights attach to a structure DWR marks abandoned, historical or non-existent, against 5% in the median county. A decree citing a ditch that is gone is a title problem, not a water supply.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 2 of 60 counties
42% here 2nd of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Towns hold a large share of the water here
46% of rights allow municipal use, against 10% in the median county. 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 5 of 58 counties
46% here 5th of 58 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Wells here have had to be re-drilled deeper
42 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 9 of 62 counties
42 here 9th of 62 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Soil here holds water at the surface rather than letting it through
96% of sections have hydrologic group D soil, the slowest-infiltrating class. Good ground for a stock pond, which will hold without lining. Bad ground for a septic absorption field and for well recharge, because one property drives all three.
USDA SSURGO soil survey 9 of 64 counties
96% here 9th of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Water here is called out for a large part of the year
The median right is out of priority 292 days a year on DWR's own analysis. The worst year on record here was 365 days.
DWR administrative call analysis 11 of 49 counties
292 days here 11th of 49 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Dams here are rated unsatisfactory
4 of this county's 63 dams carry an unsatisfactory condition rating. A storage right behind a failing dam is water you cannot count on.
Colorado Dam Safety 12 of 43 counties
4 here 12th of 43 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Ground here is prime farmland, but only if it is irrigated
70% 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 15 of 56 counties
70% here 15th of 56 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Water here is still being fought over
812 water court applications named this county since 2021, the most recent in 2026. Every one is a public document you can read.
Colorado water court resumes 4 of 60 counties
812 here 4th of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Water systems here have unresolved health violations
2 of this county's 28 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 20 of 45 counties
2 here 20th of 45 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
A lot of this county is wet ground
30% 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 35 of 63 counties
30% here 35th of 63 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
For one parcel in Douglas County
The figures above describe the whole county. The Land, Development and Rights reports answer for one parcel: what water conveys, what a well permit would allow, and what the county requires to split it. Each answer gives the evidence within a mile and who decides.
Search an address in Douglas County