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Water in Sedgwick County

What the state and federal record says about water across Sedgwick County. Each figure names the agency it came from.

Can I drill a well here?

It depends on where in the county the land is

  1. Inside a designated groundwater basin

    The Ground Water Commission's small-capacity rule applies instead: up to 50 gallons a minute and 5 acre-feet a year, for up to three homes and one acre.

    C.R.S. 37-90-105(1)

  2. 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:

    1. 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.

      C.R.S. 37-92-602(1)(b)

    2. 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.

      DWR Guideline 2023-1 (Amended) §1.1

    3. 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.

      C.R.S. 37-92-602(3)(b)(III)

  3. 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.

  • Designated basins here: Northern High Plains.
  • Groundwater management districts here can set tighter limits than the statute: Marks Butte.
  • 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 Sedgwick County

  • 50household well permits issued since 2015
  • 3of them for use inside the house only
  • 47for full household use
  • 250feet, the typical depth
  • 15gallons a minute, the typical yield

CDSS well permits Decided by: DWR, at permit application. Appeals go to the water judge within 35 days.

  • 327 Live water rights across 576 square miles
  • 1,513 Wells drilled across 576 square miles
  • 23,718 ac Irrigated ground across 576 square miles
  • 291 ft Well depth middle value across 389 of 576 square miles
  • 82 days Days called out middle value across 68 of 576 square miles

Point at any square mile to read what is on it. Hover the maps below to compare them.

Sedgwick 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

576 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.

  1. Ground here is prime farmland, but only if it is irrigated

    86% of sections carry soil the USDA classes as 'prime farmland if irrigated', against 49% in the median county. 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 6 of 56 counties

    86% here 6th of 56
    state 49% 0.4%100%

    One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.

  2. Almost nowhere in this county is on a piped water system

    The federal register lists 3 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 7 of 64 counties

    3 here 7th of 64
    175

    One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.

  3. Much of this county sits in a designated groundwater basin

    33% of well permits are inside NORTHERN HIGH PLAINS, where new permits are restricted or unavailable. Before anything else about water here, find out whether you can get one.

    CDSS well permits 10 of 18 counties

    33% here 10th of 18
    state 34% 0.0%100%

    One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.

  4. A lot of the water decreed here was never built

    9% of rights are conditional only. A court said somebody may build it and nobody has.

    CDSS water rights, net amounts 13 of 58 counties

    9% here 13th of 58
    state 5.3% 0.1%24%

    One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.

  5. Every town here drinks the same water a well would draw

    All 3 of this county's community water systems run on groundwater rather than surface water. A municipal supply is the best-monitored well in the county, so its record is the closest thing to a free test of the aquifer under this ground.

    EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System 1 of 59 counties

    100% here 1st of 59
    state 67% 4.8%100%

    One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.

  6. Wells here get plugged and abandoned more than most

    13.6% of well permits end in a plugging, 154 wells in all. A well sealed shut is the clearest verdict a driller ever files.

    CDSS well permit action history 16 of 64 counties

    13.6% here 16th of 64
    state 9.7% 2.5%48%

    One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.

  7. Most of the wells drilled here never had a pump put in

    62% 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 25 of 64 counties

    62% here 25th of 64
    state 56% 21%97%

    One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.

  8. A lot of this county is wet ground

    48% 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 25 of 63 counties

    48% here 25th of 63
    state 36% 0.1%85%

    One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.

  9. Water systems here have unresolved health violations

    1 of this county's 3 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
    117

    One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.

  10. Water here is called out for a large part of the year

    The median right is out of priority 81 days a year on DWR's own analysis. The worst year on record here was 165 days.

    DWR administrative call analysis 34 of 49 counties

    81 days here 34th of 49
    0.1 days363 days

    One bar per Colorado county from lowest to highest. Point at one to name it.

For one parcel in Sedgwick 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 Sedgwick County