Colorado · counties
Water in Jackson County
What the state and federal record says about water across Jackson 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.
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Household well, any lot size
A household well can serve up to three homes, one acre of lawn and garden, and livestock, whatever the size of the lot.
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On a rule boundary
A basin or over-appropriation line crosses these sections, so the answer turns on where on the lot the well would sit.
- 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 Jackson County
- 108household well permits issued since 2015
- 24of them for use inside the house only
- 84for full household use
- 200feet, 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.
- 1,850 Live water rights across 1,563 square miles
- 1,211 Wells drilled across 1,563 square miles
- 93,444 ac Irrigated ground across 1,563 square miles
- 105 ft Well depth middle value across 383 of 1,563 square miles
- 14 days Days called out middle value across 375 of 1,563 square miles
Point at any square mile to read what is on it. Hover the maps below to compare them.
Jackson 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
1,563 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.
Almost nowhere in this county is on a piped water system
The federal register lists 2 active community water systems for the whole county, against 10 in the median county. Unless a property sits inside one of them it is on a well, a cistern, or a shared private supply.
EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System 2 of 64 counties
2 here 2nd of 64 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 64 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 4 of 64 counties
64 days here 4th 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
81% 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 5 of 63 counties
81% here 5th of 63 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Structures here have measured years where nothing came through
53% of measured structures recorded at least one year diverting nothing. A decree does not stop a headgate running dry.
DWR diversion records 13 of 60 counties
53% here 13th of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Most of the wells drilled here never had a pump put in
69% 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 13 of 64 counties
69% here 13th of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Dams here are rated unsatisfactory
3 of this county's 58 dams carry an unsatisfactory condition rating. A storage right behind a failing dam is water you cannot count on.
Colorado Dam Safety 16 of 43 counties
3 here 16th of 43 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
For one parcel in Jackson 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 Jackson County