Colorado ยท county water record
Water in Larimer 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.
- 5,503 Live water rights across 2,625 square miles
- 14,356 Wells drilled across 2,625 square miles
- 55,100 ac Irrigated ground across 2,625 square miles
- 230 ft Well depth middle value across 1,184 of 2,625 square miles
- 243 days Days called out middle value across 802 of 2,625 square miles
Point at any square mile to read what is on it. Hover the maps below to compare them.
Larimer 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
2,625 surveyed sections, drawn 2 by 2 miles 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
63 of this county's 195 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 1 of 54 counties
63 here 1st of 54 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Stands out
Wells here make very little water
The typical well makes 6 gallons a minute, against 12 gpm across the state. Workable for a house, a problem for livestock or irrigation.
CDSS well permits 2 of 60 counties
6 gpm here 2nd of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Stands out
This is farming country and the water is committed to it
Structures here serve 202,703 mapped irrigated acres, against 32,919 ac across the state. That acreage is what the decreed water is already doing, so a new use competes with it rather than adding to it.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 2 of 45 counties
202,703 ac here 2nd of 45 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Stands out
Dams here are rated unsatisfactory
9 of this county's 195 dams carry an unsatisfactory condition rating. A storage right behind a failing dam is water you cannot count on.
Colorado Dam Safety 2 of 42 counties
9 here 2nd of 42 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Worth knowing
Water here is called out for a large part of the year
The median right is out of priority 231 days a year on DWR's own analysis. The worst year on record here was 316 days.
DWR administrative call analysis 5 of 20 counties
231 days here 5th of 20 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Worth knowing
Reservoirs here are under a storage restriction
5 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 6 of 39 counties
5 here 6th of 39 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Worth knowing
Water systems here have unresolved health violations
7 of this county's 47 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 6 of 44 counties
7 here 6th of 44 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
35% 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 8 of 58 counties
35% here 8th of 58 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Worth knowing
Wells here have had to be re-drilled deeper
53 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 8 of 59 counties
53 here 8th of 59 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Worth knowing
Soil here holds water at the surface rather than letting it through
94% 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 12 of 60 counties
94% here 12th of 60 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
12.9% of well permits end in a plugging, 1,625 wells in all. A well sealed shut is the clearest verdict a driller ever files.
CDSS well permit action history 15 of 60 counties
12.9% here 15th 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
61% 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 19 of 59 counties
61% here 19th of 59 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Context
Nobody measures what most structures here divert
57% of rights sit on structures where DWR keeps no diversion record. There is no way to check the paper against what actually came through.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 24 of 60 counties
57% here 24th of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Worth knowing
There are many impoundments here with no decreed storage right
77 reservoirs of record carry no storage decree. Each one is a question somebody has not answered.
CDSS structures 13 of 58 counties
77 here 13th of 58 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
43% 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 27 of 52 counties
43% here 27th 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 Larimer County