Colorado · counties
Water in Moffat County
What the state and federal record says about water across Moffat County. Each figure names the agency it came from.
Can I drill a well here?
Yes on most land, for up to three homes, a garden and livestock
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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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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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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 Moffat County
- 286household well permits issued since 2015
- 36of them for use inside the house only
- 250for full household use
- 216feet, 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.
- 4,911 Live water rights across 4,865 square miles
- 2,700 Wells drilled across 4,865 square miles
- 24,889 ac Irrigated ground across 4,865 square miles
- 230 ft Well depth middle value across 796 of 4,865 square miles
- 4.2 days Days called out middle value across 1,358 of 4,865 square miles
Point at any square mile to read what is on it. Hover the maps below to compare them.
Moffat 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
4,865 surveyed sections, drawn 2 by 2 miles 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.
Nobody measures what most structures here divert
79% of rights sit on structures where DWR keeps no diversion record, against 51% in the median county. There is no way to check the paper against what actually came through.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 3 of 60 counties
79% here 3rd of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Structures here have measured years where nothing came through
70% of measured structures recorded at least one year diverting nothing. A decree does not stop a headgate running dry.
DWR diversion records 7 of 60 counties
70% here 7th of 60 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
Permits here expire before anyone drills
93 permits, 4% of all issued, ran out with no well ever completed, against 2% in the median county. Permission is not a well, and permission expires.
CDSS well permit action history 7 of 64 counties
4% here 7th of 64 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
75% 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 8 of 64 counties
75% here 8th of 64 One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.
A listing's priority date will overstate seniority here
40% of water rights were decreed more than a decade after the water was first claimed. Listings quote the claim date. A call is administered on the decree date, and the median gap here is 17 years.
CDSS water rights, net amounts 10 of 60 counties
40% here 10th of 60 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 8 gallons a minute. Workable for a house, a problem for livestock or irrigation.
CDSS well permits 13 of 64 counties
8 gpm 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 40 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.
Water systems here have unresolved health violations
1 of this county's 6 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 Moffat 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 Moffat County