Colorado well permits

The State Engineer’s permit file: every permit to construct and use a well that DWR publishes, by division and water district. A permit is not a decreed water right — the decreed wells are a different, much shorter list — and most of these are household wells that are exempt from administration in the priority system.

320,406permits on file

16water districts

56%household or domestic

12%tied to a decreed structure

Division 1 · South Platte · 320,406 permits

South Platte: Greeley to Balzac WD 1 58,426 permits 56% household median depth 160 ft on the map
South Platte: Denver Gage to Greeley WD 2 44,731 permits 33% household median depth 46 ft on the map
Cache La Poudre River WD 3 18,067 permits 54% household median depth 60 ft on the map
Big Thompson River WD 4 9,415 permits 68% household median depth 205 ft on the map
St. Vrain Creek WD 5 9,644 permits 57% household median depth 75 ft on the map
Boulder Creek WD 6 18,803 permits 67% household median depth 177 ft on the map
Clear Creek WD 7 17,481 permits 63% household median depth 125 ft on the map
South Platte Cheesman to Denver Gage WD 8 56,392 permits 51% household median depth 248 ft on the map
Bear Creek WD 9 16,094 permits 89% household median depth 300 ft on the map
Upper South Platte WD 23 18,038 permits 90% household median depth 220 ft on the map
Laramie River WD 48 108 permits 72% household median depth 150 ft on the map
Republican River WD 49 9,181 permits 29% household median depth 232 ft on the map
South Platte: Balzac to Stateline WD 64 12,115 permits 43% household median depth 80 ft on the map
Arikaree River WD 65 19,728 permits 32% household median depth 231 ft on the map
Sand Creek WD 76 123 permits 98% household median depth 380 ft on the map
North Fork of South Platte WD 80 12,060 permits 93% household median depth 300 ft on the map

DWR’s permit categories

Largest first, each with the share ever tied to a decreed structure (a WDID) and the share DWR records as constructed.

Category	Permits	With a WDID	Constructed
Residential	172,122	5.2%	67%
General Purpose	44,047	40.0%	50%
Monitoring/Observation	35,918	0.5%	57%
Monitoring Hole (Notice of Intent)	26,079	0.2%	26%
Unknown	19,648	2.9%	12%
Colorado Water Conservation Board	8,029	0.6%	98%
Final Permit	6,233	93.3%	0%
Basin Determination	4,014	90.7%	0%
Geoexchange System Loop Fields	1,864	0.0%	5%
Dewatering Well (Notice of Intent)	1,337	0.1%	14%
Gravel Pit	562	52.0%	36%
Basin Change	405	5.9%	2%

Median depth is over the permits that report a total depth (about two in three). A permit’s location is what DWR holds — most are spotted from section lines, so the map places a permit to about a mile. The permit file says nothing about how much water a well pumps; the lesson explains what it does and does not record. Source: DWR’s well-permit REST service.