Colorado · counties
Water in Grand County
What the state and federal record says about water across Grand 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
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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 Grand County
- 1,317household well permits issued since 2015
- 836of them for use inside the house only
- 481for full household use
- 375feet, the typical depth
- 10gallons a minute, the typical yield
CDSS well permits Decided by: DWR, at permit application. Appeals go to the water judge within 35 days.
- 4,218 Live water rights across 1,846 square miles
- 7,409 Wells drilled across 1,846 square miles
- 33,232 ac Irrigated ground across 1,846 square miles
- 175 ft Well depth middle value across 469 of 1,846 square miles
- 219 days Days called out middle value across 662 of 1,846 square miles
Point at any square mile to read what is on it. Hover the maps below to compare them.
Grand 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
1,846 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.
Water here usually needs an augmentation plan to be legal
0.6% of rights sit under an augmentation plan, against 0% in the median county. Replacement water has to come from somewhere and is almost always paid for, every year, and the obligation runs with the land.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 2 of 22 counties
0.6% here 2nd of 22 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Building here usually means a water court case before a lot can sell
69% of the well-served subdivisions the State Engineer has reviewed in this county needed an augmentation plan, out of 26 proposals, against 34% in the median county. Colorado will not let a county approve a subdivision until he has said whether the water supply is adequate, and an augmentation plan is how a proposal that cannot answer that gets to yes. It is a water court case, and it is the cost nobody puts in the budget.
Subdivision referral opinions of the Colorado State Engineer 2 of 17 counties
69% here 2nd of 17 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Water here changes hands and moves
33% of rights carry a transfer, exchange or alternate point event, against 11% in the median county. An active market means a price exists, and it also means water can leave the ground it started on.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 2 of 60 counties
33% here 2nd of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Reservoirs here are under a storage restriction
9 dams here are restricted, meaning the state will not let them fill to their decreed capacity until repairs are made. A storage right behind a restricted dam is water that legally exists and physically cannot be held.
Colorado Dam Safety 2 of 40 counties
9 here 2nd of 40 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Dams here are rated unsatisfactory
9 of this county's 68 dams carry an unsatisfactory condition rating. A storage right behind a failing dam is water you cannot count on.
Colorado Dam Safety 2 of 43 counties
9 here 2nd of 43 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
A lot of the water decreed here was never built
17% of rights are conditional only, against 5% in the median county. A court said somebody may build it and nobody has.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 3 of 58 counties
17% here 3rd of 58 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
It takes a long time to get from permit to water here
The median well takes 72 days from permit issue to completion, against 21 days in the median county. Worth knowing before you plan a build around drilling next spring.
CDSS well permit action history 3 of 64 counties
72 days here 3rd of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
A lot of this county is wet ground
80% of sections carry poorly drained soil, against 36% in the median county, 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 6 of 63 counties
80% here 6th of 63 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 222 days a year on DWR's own analysis. The worst year on record here was 365 days.
DWR administrative call analysis 16 of 49 counties
222 days here 16th of 49 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Wells here make very little water
The typical well makes 9 gallons a minute. Workable for a house, a problem for livestock or irrigation.
CDSS well permits 17 of 64 counties
9 gpm here 17th of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Water here is still being fought over
677 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 6 of 60 counties
677 here 6th 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
14% 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 20 of 58 counties
14% here 20th 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
26 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 20 of 62 counties
26 here 20th of 62 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Water systems here have unresolved health violations
1 of this county's 24 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 29 of 45 counties
1 here 29th of 45 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
For one parcel in Grand 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 Grand County