Under 35 Acres in Colorado? Your Well Permit Will Not Water a Garden

Under 35 acres, a new well on a single parcel generally qualifies only for a Household Use Only permit. The state's own language is that water can be used only inside the home. It cannot be used to irrigate lawns, gardens, windbreaks, livestock, or any other outside use. That is CSU Extension fact sheet 6.700.

At 35 acres or more, the picture changes. A Domestic and Livestock permit allows one well per parcel serving up to three single family dwellings, irrigation of up to one acre of lawn and garden, and watering of domestic animals and livestock.

Exempt household wells are generally limited to about 15 gallons per minute.

Here is the part that catches people. Zoning and water rights are two completely different bodies of law. Agricultural zoning may well allow you to keep animals. That tells you nothing about whether your well is permitted to water them. A listing that says the zoning allows livestock is not telling you a lie. It is answering a different question than the one you are asking.

One more thing worth checking on any existing well. A well drilled on or after May 8, 1972 without a permit was illegal when it was drilled, and that does not cure itself with time.

How to check before you buy:

1. Get the exact acreage from the county assessor, not the listing. Listings round.
2. If there is an existing well, ask for the permit number and look it up with the Division of Water Resources.
3. If there is no well, ask what permit type the parcel qualifies for before you assume you can drill.
4. If you are in an over appropriated basin, a new well may need augmentation, which is a far bigger undertaking than a permit application.

None of this means do not buy. It means know what you are buying. A five acre parcel can be a wonderful place to build a house. It is just not automatically a place where you can legally water a garden.