Hydrohistorian
The Driller’s Atlas · Plate 3
Colorado, drilled
The State Engineer’s permit file for Divisions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, one issue year at a time: 470,625 located permits with an issue date, 1900 to 2026. Every year’s new permits land bright and settle to an ember. Drag the year, or press play. A permit is a piece of paper: it says a well was allowed, not that one was drilled, and the year is the date it was issued.
issued this year the three years before older monitoring holes, on the bars only
Permits issued per year, 1950–2026, by issue date. 85 dated permits before 1950 are on the map from the first frame and in the table below. Click a bar to jump the map to that year.
Every year’s count, as a table
Located permits with an issue year, Divisions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Monitoring holes are counted apart because they are drilled to look, not to pump.
| Year | Issued | Supply wells | Monitoring holes | Issued through this year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 1901 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 |
| 1902 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| 1903 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 13 |
| 1905 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 15 |
| 1906 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 19 |
| 1907 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 24 |
| 1908 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 33 |
| 1909 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 37 |
| 1910 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 43 |
| 1911 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 45 |
| 1912 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 46 |
| 1915 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 47 |
| 1916 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 48 |
| 1919 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 50 |
| 1926 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 52 |
| 1928 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 54 |
| 1930 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 58 |
| 1934 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 66 |
| 1935 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 68 |
| 1936 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 70 |
| 1938 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 71 |
| 1939 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 73 |
| 1942 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 74 |
| 1944 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 77 |
| 1945 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 82 |
| 1947 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 83 |
| 1948 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 85 |
| 1950 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 90 |
| 1951 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 91 |
| 1952 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 96 |
| 1953 | 537 | 537 | 0 | 633 |
| 1954 | 1,578 | 1,578 | 0 | 2,211 |
| 1955 | 2,546 | 2,546 | 0 | 4,757 |
| 1956 | 1,833 | 1,833 | 0 | 6,590 |
| 1957 | 1,585 | 1,585 | 0 | 8,175 |
| 1958 | 1,205 | 1,205 | 0 | 9,380 |
| 1959 | 1,957 | 1,957 | 0 | 11,337 |
| 1960 | 4,218 | 4,217 | 1 | 15,555 |
| 1961 | 1,036 | 1,036 | 0 | 16,591 |
| 1962 | 1,042 | 1,042 | 0 | 17,633 |
| 1963 | 1,528 | 1,527 | 1 | 19,161 |
| 1964 | 1,714 | 1,714 | 0 | 20,875 |
| 1965 | 1,700 | 1,698 | 2 | 22,575 |
| 1966 | 1,504 | 1,503 | 1 | 24,079 |
| 1967 | 1,495 | 1,495 | 0 | 25,574 |
| 1968 | 1,587 | 1,587 | 0 | 27,161 |
| 1969 | 1,810 | 1,810 | 0 | 28,971 |
| 1970 | 1,774 | 1,773 | 1 | 30,745 |
| 1971 | 2,743 | 2,743 | 0 | 33,488 |
| 1972 | 16,425 | 16,425 | 0 | 49,913 |
| 1973 | 6,800 | 6,796 | 4 | 56,713 |
| 1974 | 3,682 | 3,680 | 2 | 60,395 |
| 1975 | 2,811 | 2,811 | 0 | 63,206 |
| 1976 | 3,546 | 3,543 | 3 | 66,752 |
| 1977 | 5,930 | 5,928 | 2 | 72,682 |
| 1978 | 8,761 | 8,761 | 0 | 81,443 |
| 1979 | 8,576 | 8,576 | 0 | 90,019 |
| 1980 | 5,354 | 5,349 | 5 | 95,373 |
| 1981 | 5,996 | 5,946 | 50 | 101,369 |
| 1982 | 5,480 | 5,454 | 26 | 106,849 |
| 1983 | 6,190 | 6,112 | 78 | 113,039 |
| 1984 | 5,553 | 5,505 | 48 | 118,592 |
| 1985 | 5,881 | 5,379 | 502 | 124,473 |
| 1986 | 6,049 | 5,603 | 446 | 130,522 |
| 1987 | 6,071 | 5,519 | 552 | 136,593 |
| 1988 | 5,452 | 4,548 | 904 | 142,045 |
| 1989 | 6,295 | 4,989 | 1,306 | 148,340 |
| 1990 | 7,204 | 5,329 | 1,875 | 155,544 |
| 1991 | 8,299 | 5,867 | 2,432 | 163,843 |
| 1992 | 9,133 | 6,580 | 2,553 | 172,976 |
| 1993 | 11,320 | 8,686 | 2,634 | 184,296 |
| 1994 | 13,222 | 9,770 | 3,452 | 197,518 |
| 1995 | 12,462 | 9,654 | 2,808 | 209,980 |
| 1996 | 13,083 | 9,952 | 3,131 | 223,063 |
| 1997 | 11,690 | 9,111 | 2,579 | 234,753 |
| 1998 | 13,032 | 9,676 | 3,356 | 247,785 |
| 1999 | 12,222 | 9,250 | 2,972 | 260,007 |
| 2000 | 12,753 | 9,874 | 2,879 | 272,760 |
| 2001 | 11,734 | 9,193 | 2,541 | 284,494 |
| 2002 | 13,347 | 10,302 | 3,045 | 297,841 |
| 2003 | 12,753 | 9,485 | 3,268 | 310,594 |
| 2004 | 10,744 | 6,926 | 3,818 | 321,338 |
| 2005 | 9,886 | 6,862 | 3,024 | 331,224 |
| 2006 | 7,955 | 6,426 | 1,529 | 339,179 |
| 2007 | 7,134 | 6,022 | 1,112 | 346,313 |
| 2008 | 6,281 | 4,979 | 1,302 | 352,594 |
| 2009 | 5,283 | 4,131 | 1,152 | 357,877 |
| 2010 | 9,608 | 8,537 | 1,071 | 367,485 |
| 2011 | 5,073 | 3,784 | 1,289 | 372,558 |
| 2012 | 5,646 | 4,225 | 1,421 | 378,204 |
| 2013 | 5,742 | 3,904 | 1,838 | 383,946 |
| 2014 | 6,016 | 3,889 | 2,127 | 389,962 |
| 2015 | 5,861 | 3,920 | 1,941 | 395,823 |
| 2016 | 6,930 | 3,963 | 2,967 | 402,753 |
| 2017 | 6,827 | 4,607 | 2,220 | 409,580 |
| 2018 | 7,707 | 5,325 | 2,382 | 417,287 |
| 2019 | 6,965 | 4,545 | 2,420 | 424,252 |
| 2020 | 7,187 | 4,908 | 2,279 | 431,439 |
| 2021 | 8,644 | 6,118 | 2,526 | 440,083 |
| 2022 | 7,862 | 5,532 | 2,330 | 447,945 |
| 2023 | 5,866 | 4,239 | 1,627 | 453,811 |
| 2024 | 5,808 | 3,825 | 1,983 | 459,619 |
| 2025 | 6,399 | 3,882 | 2,517 | 466,018 |
| 2026 | 4,607 | 3,288 | 1,319 | 470,625 |
Plate 4
When each district drilled
Water-supply permits issued per year in each of the 78 water districts in the file, 1950–2026, on one vertical scale, so the heights compare. The district where half the permits came latest is at the top. Monitoring holes are left out here; the table has them. The tallest bar anywhere is 2,700 in a year; a district with only a few hundred permits barely registers on that scale, and the count at the right of each row says how thin its evidence is.
The districts, as a table
| District | Water-supply permits | Half issued by | Busiest year | Issued that year | Monitoring holes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purgatoire River (WD 19) | 4,828 | 2010 | 2010 | 2,700 | 500 |
| Apishapa River (WD 18) | 956 | 2009 | 2010 | 300 | 73 |
| Roan Creek Basin (WD 70) | 301 | 2009 | 2010 | 90 | 99 |
| White River Basin (WD 43) | 2,253 | 2009 | 2012 | 334 | 627 |
| Green River Basin (WD 56) | 73 | 2006 | 2022 | 7 | 1 |
| Sand Creek (WD 76) | 115 | 2003 | 2000 | 7 | 2 |
| Trinchera Creek (WD 35) | 3,041 | 2003 | 1972 | 133 | 369 |
| Navajo Reservoir (WD 46) | 381 | 2003 | 2010 | 90 | 1 |
| Disappointment Creek Basin (WD 69) | 42 | 2003 | 2015 | 4 | 4 |
| Huerfano River (WD 79) | 1,147 | 2002 | 1999 | 55 | 80 |
| North Fork/Tribs. (WD 40) | 2,993 | 2002 | 2002 | 219 | 645 |
| Cucharas River (WD 16) | 1,808 | 2001 | 1972 | 103 | 419 |
| Culebra Creek (WD 24) | 951 | 2001 | 1972 | 46 | 222 |
| San Luis Creek (WD 25) | 2,170 | 2001 | 1972 | 109 | 323 |
| Lower Gunnison River (WD 42) | 485 | 2001 | 1998 | 30 | 241 |
| Dolores River Basin (WD 63) | 212 | 2001 | 1985 | 20 | 44 |
| Little Dolores River (WD 73) | 442 | 2001 | 1999 | 21 | 9 |
| Tribs. North of Colorado River (WD 53) | 588 | 2001 | 2001 | 33 | 139 |
| Navajo River Basin (WD 77) | 229 | 2001 | 1998 | 19 | 50 |
| Middle Yampa River (WD 57) | 835 | 2000 | 2022 | 49 | 309 |
| Los Pinos River Basin (WD 31) | 5,364 | 2000 | 2010 | 1,019 | 254 |
| La Plata River Basin (WD 33) | 1,472 | 2000 | 2003 | 133 | 94 |
| South Platte: Greeley to Balzac (WD 1) | 40,357 | 1999 | 2001 | 1,212 | 5,016 |
| Arkansas: Headwaters to Salida (WD 11) | 10,153 | 1999 | 2002 | 365 | 837 |
| Wet Mountain Valley (WD 13) | 4,704 | 1999 | 1997 | 165 | 230 |
| Saint Charles (WD 15) | 2,782 | 1999 | 1972 | 135 | 227 |
| Conejos Creek (WD 22) | 2,526 | 1999 | 1972 | 264 | 71 |
| San Miguel River Basin (WD 60) | 2,522 | 1999 | 2002 | 130 | 1,050 |
| Lower Colorado River (WD 72) | 1,877 | 1999 | 2004 | 81 | 2,231 |
| Upper South Platte (WD 23) | 15,405 | 1998 | 1997 | 596 | 821 |
| Arkansas: Salida to Portland (WD 12) | 13,386 | 1998 | 1972 | 562 | 1,182 |
| Alamosa La Jara (WD 21) | 1,722 | 1998 | 1972 | 284 | 124 |
| Upper Gunnison River (WD 62) | 1,365 | 1998 | 1995 | 55 | 174 |
| Upper Uncompahgre River (WD 68) | 843 | 1998 | 1994 | 34 | 141 |
| Divide Creek (WD 45) | 2,140 | 1998 | 2000 | 120 | 939 |
| Muddy/Troublesome Creeks (WD 50) | 867 | 1998 | 2001 | 45 | 47 |
| Lower Yampa River (WD 44) | 2,301 | 1998 | 2022 | 126 | 678 |
| Little Snake River (WD 55) | 202 | 1998 | 2021 | 14 | 46 |
| Upper Yampa River (WD 58) | 3,779 | 1998 | 1979 | 155 | 716 |
| Piedra River Basin (WD 78) | 1,165 | 1998 | 2010 | 67 | 12 |
| Arkansas: Fowler to Las Animas (WD 17) | 6,254 | 1997 | 1960 | 246 | 872 |
| Paradox Creek (WD 61) | 166 | 1997 | 1983 | 24 | 60 |
| Rifle/Elk/Parachute Creeks (WD 39) | 2,382 | 1997 | 1981 | 101 | 1,156 |
| Upper Colorado/Fraser Rivers (WD 51) | 8,269 | 1997 | 1999 | 319 | 621 |
| Animas River Basin (WD 30) | 8,202 | 1997 | 2010 | 856 | 701 |
| Mancos River Basin (WD 34) | 293 | 1997 | 1996 | 26 | 94 |
| West Dolores Creek/Tribs. (WD 71) | 795 | 1997 | 1994 | 37 | 207 |
| Laramie River (WD 48) | 80 | 1996 | 1980 | 6 | 8 |
| Saguache Creek (WD 26) | 1,159 | 1996 | 1972 | 155 | 83 |
| East River Basin (WD 59) | 3,665 | 1996 | 1996 | 146 | 535 |
| Blue River Basin (WD 36) | 6,661 | 1996 | 1994 | 219 | 1,021 |
| Eagle River Basin (WD 37) | 1,459 | 1996 | 1992 | 72 | 913 |
| Piney/Cottonwood Creeks (WD 52) | 200 | 1996 | 1993 | 9 | 48 |
| San Juan River Basin (WD 29) | 1,443 | 1996 | 1973 | 98 | 170 |
| Fountain Creek (WD 10) | 23,969 | 1995 | 1972 | 1,004 | 5,904 |
| Tomichi Creek (WD 28) | 1,458 | 1995 | 1978 | 87 | 256 |
| Lower Uncompahgre River (WD 41) | 1,167 | 1995 | 2005 | 60 | 696 |
| Roaring Fork River Basin (WD 38) | 7,280 | 1995 | 2000 | 235 | 1,591 |
| North Platte River Basin (WD 47) | 1,171 | 1995 | 1998 | 51 | 136 |
| Slater/Timberlake Creeks (WD 54) | 368 | 1995 | 1984 | 32 | 23 |
| McElmo Creek Basin (WD 32) | 562 | 1995 | 1982 | 41 | 220 |
| Cache La Poudre River (WD 3) | 10,498 | 1994 | 1960 | 398 | 3,765 |
| Rio Grande (WD 20) | 15,469 | 1994 | 1972 | 1,895 | 1,300 |
| Big Thompson River (WD 4) | 5,772 | 1993 | 1972 | 331 | 1,543 |
| Arkansas: Las Animas to Stateline (WD 67) | 8,263 | 1993 | 1972 | 249 | 1,607 |
| South Platte Cheesman to Denver Gage (WD 8) | 30,132 | 1992 | 1972 | 1,474 | 16,167 |
| South Platte: Balzac to Stateline (WD 64) | 7,524 | 1992 | 2003 | 311 | 1,359 |
| Arikaree River (WD 65) | 10,731 | 1992 | 1978 | 325 | 487 |
| Arkansas: Portland to Fowler (WD 14) | 3,470 | 1992 | 1960 | 229 | 1,635 |
| South Platte: Denver Gage to Greeley (WD 2) | 16,903 | 1991 | 1972 | 664 | 15,926 |
| Republican River (WD 49) | 4,842 | 1991 | 2000 | 206 | 342 |
| North Fork of South Platte (WD 80) | 10,114 | 1991 | 1972 | 745 | 285 |
| Carnero Creek (WD 27) | 1,709 | 1991 | 1972 | 146 | 107 |
| Clear Creek (WD 7) | 9,563 | 1988 | 1972 | 646 | 4,017 |
| St. Vrain Creek (WD 5) | 4,802 | 1987 | 1972 | 464 | 2,427 |
| Boulder Creek (WD 6) | 10,699 | 1986 | 1972 | 862 | 3,487 |
| Bear Creek (WD 9) | 12,419 | 1986 | 1972 | 934 | 690 |
| Cimarron River Basin (WD 66) | 2,273 | 1986 | 1975 | 118 | 151 |
Located permits with an issue date. “Half issued by” is the year the district’s running total of water-supply permits passed half of today’s; each district’s own page has its full year-by-year table.
What this plate can’t show
- Divisions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 only. The permit file on this server covers 78 water districts of Divisions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7; the rest of the state is not blank, it is not loaded yet.
- A permit is not a well. Some permitted wells were never drilled; some permits replaced a well already in the ground; a few wells were drilled under more than one permit. Nothing here counts drilled holes.
- The year is the issue date. Not the application date, not the day a rig showed up. 122,930 located permits carry no issue date at all and are never drawn, which is why the last frame holds 470,625 points and the district list counts 593,555.
- Nothing is finer than about a mile. 77% of permits are located by section lines or quarters, not GPS; nothing here is honest below ~1 mile. The map stops zooming where a point would start to look like a location.
- The points don’t say how much water. No yield, no depth, no water level is drawn here; the depth plate and the cross-section carry what the file has of those.
The spring of 1972, in the application file
The tallest bar is 1972: 16,425 permits issued, against 2,743 the year before and 6,800 the year after. The permits also record the date each application was received, and those dates cluster in a few months. The statute that was in force names a date:
“With respect to applications filed prior to May 8, 1972, the state engineer shall issue a permit for the construction of wells specified in subsection (1) of this section without regard to the provisions of section 37-90-137 (2) and (3) upon submission of an application which shall be accompanied by a fee of five dollars.” C.R.S. § 37-92-602(2)
“With respect to applications filed on and after May 8, 1972, the state engineer shall first make a determination as to whether or not the exercise of the requested permit will materially injure the vested water rights of others or any other existing well …” C.R.S. § 37-92-602(3)(b)(I)
Applications received, by month, with the statute’s date marked. The file records the dates; whether the two are cause and effect it does not say.
| Month | Applications received |
|---|---|
| 1971-01 | 104 |
| 1971-02 | 149 |
| 1971-03 | 207 |
| 1971-04 | 254 |
| 1971-05 | 222 |
| 1971-06 | 326 |
| 1971-07 | 282 |
| 1971-08 | 264 |
| 1971-09 | 236 |
| 1971-10 | 179 |
| 1971-11 | 140 |
| 1971-12 | 223 |
| 1972-01 | 196 |
| 1972-02 | 1,584 |
| 1972-03 | 4,166 |
| 1972-04 | 3,472 |
| 1972-05 · May 8 line | 1,748 |
| 1972-06 | 1,023 |
| 1972-07 | 825 |
| 1972-08 | 856 |
| 1972-09 | 668 |
| 1972-10 | 606 |
| 1972-11 | 352 |
| 1972-12 | 274 |
| 1973-01 | 378 |
| 1973-02 | 417 |
| 1973-03 | 678 |
| 1973-04 | 655 |
| 1973-05 | 610 |
| 1973-06 | 699 |
| 1973-07 | 772 |
| 1973-08 | 720 |
| 1973-09 | 569 |
| 1973-10 | 488 |
| 1973-11 | 417 |
| 1973-12 | 319 |
Months from 1968-01 to 1975-12 are in the bundle; the three years around the date are shown. The lesson Three kinds of well explains what an exempt permit is and is not.
Data: DWR’s well-permit file as cached by this site, 599,071 permits, 593,555 located; bundle version 1793277911. Each point on the map opens its permit’s own page when the map is zoomed in. The other plates: how deep the wells go (Plate 1), a cross-section of the file (Plate 2).