Colorado's 35-acre rule: better water rights, and nobody checking the land
The well permit matters more than almost anything else on a Colorado listing, and the number on it is not the part that matters.
If you are looking at land in Colorado, the well permit matters more than almost anything else on the listing, and the number on it is not the part that matters.
What Household Use Only actually means
Under 35 acres, a residential well permit in Colorado is almost always Household Use Only. That means inside the house. Water cannot be used to irrigate lawns, gardens, windbreaks, livestock, or any other outside use.
It is not a technicality that nobody enforces. It is what the permit says you are allowed to do with the water.
At 35 acres or more, a parcel usually qualifies for a Domestic and Livestock permit instead. One such well is allowed per parcel. It may serve up to three single-family dwellings, irrigate one acre or less of lawn and garden, and provide water for domestic animals and livestock.
That is the same well, drilled the same way, on the same aquifer. The difference is the parcel size and what the permit allows.
A few other things worth knowing about exempt wells. They are generally limited to about 15 gallons per minute and require a non-evaporative wastewater system. And a well drilled on or after May 8, 1972 without a permit was installed illegally, which is a reason to ask for the permit rather than accept a description of it. Designated ground water basins and the Denver Basin operate under different rules, so confirm which one the parcel sits in.
The second thing 35 acres decides
Under C.R.S. 30-28-101(10)(b), a division of land into parcels of thirty-five or more acres, where no parcel is intended for use by multiple owners, is not a subdivision. It does not go through county subdivision review.
Put those two rules next to each other and you get an uncomfortable result.
The parcels with the better water rights are the same parcels nobody reviewed. No county confirmation that there is legal recorded access. No confirmation that water is physically available. No confirmation that an on-site wastewater system can be permitted there at all. The seller divided the land, recorded it, and listed it.
Under 35 acres, you get the county review and a well you cannot water a garden with. At 35 and above, you get the better permit and no review. Both sides have a cost, and the listing will not mention either one.
What to do about it
Pull the actual well permit and read the permitted use, not the seller's summary of it.
Ask how the parcel was created. If it came out of a 35-acre split, assume nothing was verified and verify it yourself.
Call the county public health department and ask whether an on-site wastewater system can be permitted on that specific parcel, before you buy rather than after.
One thing that helps a little
Colorado allows residential rainwater collection in up to two rain barrels with a combined capacity of 110 gallons or less, collected from the rooftop of a single-family residence or a residence of four or fewer units, used outdoors on that same property.
If your well is Household Use Only, that is the legal way to water a garden. It is also the entirety of it.
The full Colorado checklist is here, and parcel research is here.
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