The following questions were emailed to us or asked by fellow Black Foresters.
Could last summer's hail storms cause a sudden increase in orange/brown deposits in well water filters?
Because brownish/red deposits are normal in filters when rust seeps into well water, it is hard to construct a scenario where even large, hard hail could suddenly knock more rust into the water. That does not imply that hail damage leading to increased deposits is not possible. Below is a good website that discusses several situations that Black Forest residents have reported. https://waterfilterguru.com/well-water-suddenly-brown/
Is it possible to subdivide a property with an existing well and then pipe water from the well to the new property?
A well cannot serve more than one house on a household use only well permit. Therefore, if you subdivide 5 acres into two 2.5 acre parcels, then each has to have its own well.
This is possible if the well owner has a domestic well permit. The conditions for this to happen need to be worked out with the property owner and approved by the Colorado Division of Water Resources.
I just made an offer on a house with a well drilled in 1955 to water livestock. The house has been empty for a couple of years since the owner’s death. There are reddish-brown deposits in the sinks and toilets. How to make sure the well is usable and the water is safe to drink?
First, note that well permits do not include any well maintenance information. Therefore, you should ask the seller for any pertinent records such as a pump replacement, storage tank repairs or any other well related work. Assuming the house will have a prepurchase inspection, make sure that the well-related plumbing and the storage/pressure tank will be checked. To check on the well’s soundness, secure a copy of the drilling log and ask a professional driller about the pump: its position in the well and whether it is likely to need replacing in the near future.
The reddish-brown water deposits are likely to be rust from the well’s underground pipes or surrounding soil. Look for filters that remove all of it.
Also, you should get the water tested. For information about the various tests, see the article in this website on Quantity and Quality under the Private Wells section.
Water sources worldwide are increasingly being contaminated with hazardous substances, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Could you provide more information on this serious problem in your website?
We have considered including many water issues in our website but decided to focus on well water in our community, Black Forest, Colorado. Since PFAS chemicals have been found in nearby areas, such as the Air Force Academy and the city of Fountain, we believe we serve our community best by letting them know that we do not have any reports of PFAS chemicals in our wells. Fortunately. Thank you for your educational efforts with this widespread problem.
How can I access the testing data results for the Black Forest community wells?
There is no published source where you can find data from well water tests in Black Forest. Residents can have their well water tested by the El Paso County Department of Public Health and Environment, which does not make the results public. If you have reason to believe that well water may be contaminated with E. coli or other substances, you can arrange a test through the Department of Public Health and Environment. The website is https://www.elpasocountyhealth.org/licenses-permits-inspections-water-testing/water-testing/
Is it advisable to have our well adjudicated? The well has been active since the 1950's. it's in the Dawson aquifer.
Is it advisable? Here’s the not-so-quick answer: Adjudication seems to do nothing to protect your well water. Without adjudication, you have a well permit that allows you to pump the water under your property as specified in the permit. Adjudication does not protect you from running out of water or from neighbors who are also pumping water legally although they might, or might not, be reducing the amount of water under your property.
The biggest reason to adjudicate your well water is to allow you to pump more water than your well permit allows. In that case, the Water Court's adjudication of your water allows increased pumping and specifies how much water you are allowed to pump. You will also need to install a water meter and report your usage periodically.
Another reason to adjudicate is because the well water is used for commercial purposes, for example, a farm.
For suggestions on what to ask a water lawyer, see the Private Wells section in this website and select Adjudicating Your Well.
I am in the process of planning permaculture landscaping. My well is in the Dawson Aquifer. How can I find the pH and salinity of the water?
You could buy a test kit for pH and salinity on the internet. Or you could get your water tested by the El Paso County Public Health department. You'll need to get a sample bottle from them and the directions for taking the water sample. Consider calling the lab to find out what they recommend. The link is: https://www.elpasocountyhealth.org/licenses-permits-inspections-water-testing/water-testing/
We are considering buying an existing home with a domestic Dawson aquifer well drilled in 2015. Do you have any timelines on predicting when that aquifer will be in trouble of drying up? What happens if it does, do you have to apply to drill deeper? Is there a risk that drilling deeper isn't an option, then what would you do for water?
First, there are no predictions of when the Dawson aquifer in Black Forest will be depleted. If the well runs dry, your options are to lower the pump, which does not require a permit, or drill a new well. It is not possible to drill a well deeper. Please note that the well may only appear to be dry. A good source of information is this website: https://todayshomeowner.com/plumbing/guides/how-to-fix-a-dry-water-well/
You can get a rough idea of how much water is available in the well. You start by having the current well water depth measured (say it’s 100 feet from the surface) and compare that to the static water level when the well was drilled, which should be on your well permit. (Say the original static level was listed as 98 feet.) Then find the distance from the water's surface to the well pump, which is also on your well permit. (Assume that is 120 feet.) In this example, 100 – 98 = 2 feet of water have been used. And 120 -100 = 20 feet is the amount of water left above the pump. Note that this measurement is based on the assumption that the original static level was accurate and that no one pumped water for several hours before the current static level was measured. Also, the well water level will vary naturally. Several measurements are necessary to get a useful average.
When applying this analysis to a prospective purchase, note how much water has been used since the well was drilled. Then determine how long the rest of the water is likely to last at the previous rate of use.
How to know when your well is running dry?
The main signs that your well could be running dry are:
The water tastes or smells wrong.
The well pump keeps coming on. Do not let this continue. The pump will eventually seize and fail.
I am keenly interested in what your well monitoring program is revealing. Are there any updates? Should we be worried about all the new home construction going on?
Your concern is the very reason we (the Black Forest Wells and Water Committee) started the well water measuring program in Black Forest. Our best answer, after measuring the water depth in about 60 wells, now once a year beginning in May 2020, is that our wells are well.
We see no wells that appear to be close to running out of water as determined by comparing our measurements with the original static water level. Individual private wells on five-acre lots seem to be sustainable for the foreseeable future. However, we need many more measurements to see any long-term trend.
As for large commercial users, we do not have any wells to measure that are adjacent to Cherokee Metropolitan District's four commercial wells at Hodgen and Black Forest Roads. They are allowed to pump 3,709.99 acre feet of water, total, each year, from the Dawson, Denver, Arapahoe, and Larmie-Fox Hills aquifers. That water is piped out of Black Forest.
New home developers in El Paso County need to show that their homes will have enough well water for 300 years. That water is expected to be under the developed land, not under the neighboring properties.
Want to find out about using ground water coming up from surface...want to see if I should or could adjudicate it, catch it? Use it for my greenhouse domestic animals, wildlife? Just pouring out of ground. Have a well for house water and up to 1 acre... Do I need a permit? Is it a stream with priority rights? Is it from the Dawson aquifer?
You seem to have a spring on your property and springs are subject to administration. They need to either: 1) have a well permit (for a developed spring) with the same limitations as a well plus some others related to construction, or 2) have a surface water right and operate within the priority appropriation system. Note the reference to construction refers to a structure you build to capture or concentrate the spring. Therefore, you can get a permit for a well or it becomes a stream and is subject to the first in time, first in right priority system of surface water.
This is a complicated issue. May we strongly suggest asking the Colorado Division of Water Resources for clarification or details when you decide what you would like to do with the water. This is a link to the DWR home page where you can submit a question: https://dwr.colorado.gov/
Hi, looking to buy a piece of property in Black Forest that has a well but they are telling me it has no water rights. Is this normal and I can still use the well as permitted?
Saying that the well has no water rights should mean that the property does not have adjudicated water rights. Adjudicated water rights are rarely sold separately from the property.
If “no water rights” means the well’s water was never adjudicated, you would have the right as the property owner to use the well as specified by the well permit. (Remember to change the name on the well permit to your name.) You can search for the well permit using the property’s address on the Colorado Division of Water Resources website: https://dwr.state.co.us/Tools/WellPermits
We are interested in a piece of property off Hwy 83 that comes with water rights with the purchase. I hired a lawyer to value the water although I don't believe I received reliable information. How to establish the value of the water rights?
The sections on Nontributary Groundwater Rights and Exempt Wells are pertinent to your situation. Note that surface water rights and well water rights are different for valuation purposes.
Just moved here. Where to start learning about the Denver Basin aquifers and the Dawson aquifer especially?
It is hard to recommend a single source that could be just what you need. These are a few suggestions:
This link to the Colorado Division of Resources website provides an overview of Denver Basin aquifers, well permits and water adjudication procedures. Note that the Denver Basin is not one of the Designated Basins. https://dwr.colorado.gov/services/well-permitting/denver-basin
When the power went out for three days in Black Forest, we ran out of water. The fire department refused to provide water and I could not find any public water supplier. What to do?
As of 2025, there are no public water suppliers. If you have a friend who has power, you might get a few buckets of water from them. Some people have emergency electricity generators or Simple Pumps. Otherwise, collecting as much water as possible in advance of storms seems to be a common practice.
There are rumors that the city will annex, or is considering annexing, Black Forest into Colorado Springs. Really?
Under the current Colorado Springs Annexation Plan, it is unlikely that Black Forest would be annexed. Over 50% of Black Forest property owners would have to request annexation. No such petition is underway or even being planned.
However, Colorado Springs has begun revising its Annexation Plan of 2006. There will be public hearings through the summer of 2025.
