What the Rio Grande Basin rules mean for your well
The San Luis Valley sits in Water Division 3, with its own aquifer rules and a water compact that makes non-exempt wells a materially different proposition than anywhere else in our service area. If your property crosses the divide into Division 2, those rules are different again. This page tells you what applies where — and where to go to confirm it.
- National Ground Water Association
- Colorado Water Well Contractors Association
- Bonded & insured
- Free estimates and project quotes
Why this gets confusing
The divide runs right through the middle of our service area
Water Works Plus runs the same truck to both sides of the watershed divide, but the regulatory world changes when it crosses. Understanding which division your well sits in matters before you do anything else.
What this page covers
The rules a rural well owner in Division 3 actually needs to understand
This is a regulatory reference, not legal advice. Every specific question about your permit, your water right, or your property belongs to the Colorado Division of Water Resources.
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Exempt vs. non-exempt wells
An exempt well is one the State Engineer may permit without a full finding that it won't injure senior water rights. Exempt wells are capped at 15 gallons per minute and require a non-evaporative wastewater system — a septic tank and leach field. Non-exempt wells, mostly agricultural, require a decreed augmentation plan or substitute water supply plan.
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The 35-acre threshold
On a parcel of less than 35 acres, the standard permit is a household-use-only well — water inside the home only, nothing outside. On 35 acres or more, a domestic and livestock permit under C.R.S. 37-92-602 adds up to one acre of home garden and lawn plus livestock watering. Parcel size decides which permit type applies.
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Division 3's two aquifers
The San Luis Valley has an unconfined (shallow) aquifer and a confined (deeper, artesian) aquifer separated by a clay layer. The unconfined aquifer supplies roughly 85 percent of agricultural well water in the valley. These are the aquifers the Rio Grande Water Conservation District's subdistrict rules are designed to protect.
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The Rio Grande Compact and why Division 3 rules are tighter
Colorado shares the Rio Grande with New Mexico and Texas under the Rio Grande Compact. How much water is consumed in the valley affects Colorado's downstream obligations under that compact — which is the underlying reason Division 3 administration is more involved than Division 2's. Rules targeting unconfined aquifer recovery were approved by the Colorado Supreme Court in 2011.
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How Division 3 differs from Division 2
Division 2, the Arkansas Basin, operates under the same statewide exempt-well rules but has no subdistrict fee regime and no confined/unconfined aquifer distinction of the San Luis Valley kind. If your property is in Las Animas, Huerfano, Pueblo, or Custer county, see the Arkansas Basin page. The honest difference is not that one basin is stricter in every respect — it's that Division 3 has an additional administrative layer for non-exempt wells.
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Septic systems and county permits
Wastewater systems in Colorado are governed by CDPHE Regulation 43 as the statewide floor, but permits are issued by the county — not the state. Costilla, Alamosa, and Conejos counties may each set requirements stricter than Regulation 43. Contact your county health department for current requirements; we install and service the equipment once you know what's approved.
Water Works Plus works supply-side only — well to the building envelope — and does not drill wells, handle interior plumbing, or give legal advice on water rights or permits.
Before you call anyone
How to figure out what your well situation actually is
Most of the confusion a Division 3 property owner faces comes from not knowing which questions to ask in what order. Here's a sequence that works.
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Find your parcel size
The 35-acre threshold is the first rule that applies. Less than 35 acres points toward a household-use-only permit — inside the home, nothing outside. Thirty-five acres or more opens up the domestic and livestock permit type. Your county assessor's records will have the acreage.
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Confirm your water division with DWR
The Colorado Division of Water Resources can confirm whether your well is in Division 3 or Division 2 and what permit type it carries. This is a free lookup and the only authoritative answer. Don't rely on county or acreage alone — the divide doesn't follow county lines in every case.
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Look up the existing well permit if the well is already drilled
DWR's online well permit database shows what a well is permitted for, when it was drilled, and what conditions apply. If the permitted uses don't match what you want to do with the property, that's a water rights question — and one for a water attorney, not for us.
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Contact your county health department for septic
If you need a new or expanded wastewater system, or if you're buying a property and want to know what's installed, the county health department is the permitting authority. In Alamosa, Costilla, and Conejos counties, county rules may exceed the statewide Regulation 43 floor. Confirm current requirements directly with them.
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Get the physical system inspected
Once you know what's permitted and what's allowed, the condition of the actual pump, pressure tank, water lines, and septic components is a separate question. That's where we come in. An inspection tells you what's working, what's marginal, and what to budget for — in order from least to most costly to address.
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Get a quote before committing to anything
We offer free estimates and project quotes. Knowing the regulatory picture before you call means the conversation is about the physical system, not paperwork — and you're not paying for time spent figuring out something the Division of Water Resources could have told you at no cost.
Free estimates on any service or repair, anywhere in our seven-county area.
- Free estimates — we quote after we diagnose
- One year on labor and materials
- Colorado License #1447
Why the cheap answer is safe to give
We can afford to tell you it is the cheap part
Not because we are nicer than the next outfit. Because of how this business is built — and all three of these are checkable.
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No rig to keep busy
A drilling rig is the most expensive thing a water contractor can own, and it has to stay working to pay for itself. We do not own one. A new well is not on our list of answers, because we could not drill it if we wanted to.
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We are a dealer, not a manufacturer
Authorized dealer — that is where the five-year equipment warranty comes from. We do not build pumps and we do not carry a quota on them. A pump we talk you out of costs us nothing.
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A wrong diagnosis comes back to us
One year on labor and materials means we are the ones who drive back out if the fix does not hold. Guessing expensive is not only dishonest here — it is expensive for us.
None of that is a claim about our character. You do not have to take our word for any of it — the license, the association memberships and the warranty terms are all verifiable, and they are the same on paper as they are on this page.
Questions we get asked
Before you call
The Rio Grande Water Conservation District's subdistricts govern non-exempt wells — overwhelmingly agricultural. An exempt household well is still exempt in Division 3. If your well is permitted as household-use-only or domestic and livestock under C.R.S. 37-92-602, the subdistrict regime almost certainly doesn't apply to you. Confirm with the Colorado Division of Water Resources if you're unsure.
It depends on your permit type. A household-use-only permit — the standard permit for parcels under 35 acres — restricts use to inside the home only. Lawn and garden irrigation is not allowed under that permit. A domestic and livestock permit on 35 acres or more does allow irrigation of up to one acre of home garden and lawn. Check your permit on the DWR database to see what yours says.
Fifteen gallons per minute is the maximum pumping rate for any exempt well statewide. It's not a target — it's a ceiling. Most household wells pump well below it. If a well needs to pump more than 15 gpm consistently, it's outside exempt status and requires a decreed augmentation plan. For a household, staying under 15 gpm is rarely the binding constraint.
The unconfined aquifer is the shallower one, recharged more directly by surface water and snowmelt. The confined (artesian) aquifer sits below a clay layer and is under natural pressure. The unconfined aquifer supplies roughly 85 percent of agricultural well water in the valley and is the one the 2011 recovery rules primarily target. Household wells in the valley vary — the Division of Water Resources can tell you which aquifer your well draws from.
Start with the Colorado Division of Water Resources for the well permit and water rights status. For the septic system, call the Costilla County health department — they issue the permits and do the inspections, and their requirements may be stricter than the state minimum. We can evaluate the physical condition of the water system once you know what's permitted.
No, and that's intentional. We don't own a drill rig, which means we have no financial reason to tell you that you need a new well when a pump repair or pressure tank replacement will fix the problem. If you genuinely need a new well drilled, we'll say so and refer you to a driller. We service everything from the well casing to the building — we just don't drill.
Possibly. The household-use-only permit type applies to wells drilled on or after May 8, 1972, on parcels under 35 acres. Wells drilled before that date operate under different historical conditions. The Colorado Division of Water Resources can tell you what your pre-1972 well is permitted for and whether any conditions on it still apply.
Call us if the question is about the pump, pressure tank, water lines, cistern, filtration, or septic equipment — anything physical from the well casing to the house. Call the Colorado Division of Water Resources if the question is about what you're allowed to do, what the permit says, or what a well on a property you're buying is permitted for. Those two conversations don't overlap much, and knowing which one you need saves time.
If the permit side is settled and the physical system is what needs attention, call us at (719) 859-1148 — answered 24 hours Monday through Saturday. Call (719) 859-1148
Before you call
What to have ready
The more of this you can pull together ahead of time, the faster the conversation goes — and the more useful the free estimate.
- Your well permit number. It's on the original permit document or in the DWR online database by address. It tells us what the well is permitted for before we set foot on the property.
- Your parcel size. Acreage determines which permit type applies and what uses are allowed. County assessor records are the quickest source if you don't have the deed handy.
- What you're noticing. Low pressure, air in the lines, water that cuts out and comes back, discoloration, bad taste — describe it in those terms. Symptoms are more useful to us than a diagnosis you've already formed.
- Approximate age of the pump and pressure tank, if you know it. Not essential, but useful. Even a rough answer — 'it was here when we bought the place fifteen years ago' — helps us think through what we're likely to find.
If you don't have any of this, call anyway — we'll sort it out together.
Tell us what the water is doing.
We’ll tell you what it usually turns out to be, what it will take to confirm it, and what it costs — before we touch anything.
Call (719) 859-1148Answering 24 hours a day, Monday through Saturday
- Colorado License #1447 · bonded and insured
- One year on labor and materials, five on equipment
- Free estimates and project quotes — we quote after we diagnose
- NGWA and Colorado Water Well Contractors Association
Or have us call you back
If you are on bad signal or would rather not talk right now.