CAC Water Team is currently compiling water level data from multiple sources to help the community understand the status of our vital groundwater resource.

Read more below about how we are monitoring trends in water level changes and how this data reflects changes in precipitation, groundwater recharge, evaporation and transpiration by vegetation-natural water going out, and depletion from well pumping.

Monitoring Well Data Compilation and Evaluation

Existing data are available from many sources for this effort and include:

  • Well completion reports in the state Division of Water Resource permit files
  • Environmental site monitoring well files with various agencies (US Environmental Protections Agency, [EPA], Colorado Department of Labor Oil and Public Safety [OPS])
  • US Geological Survey (USGS) monitoring network from the 2003 Turkey Creek Watershed Study
  • Monitoring wells included in existing augmentation plans or proposed developments with Jefferson County Planning and Zoning (PZ)

Water level data from these sources are useful for tracking changes in groundwater conditions in our area. Water level measurement numbers represent the depth to water in each well from the ground surface. The study of water level data is used to assess many factors about groundwater conditions such as flow patterns and water balances. An important condition that water level data can be used to evaluate is changes in water in storage, which equates to understanding water availability through changing weather patterns and increasing development pressures.

When the depth of water increases over time it means that the water level at a well is dropping-or getting deeper. Essentially, this indicates that water in storage in the aquifers at that area is decreasing. When the depth to water decreases over time at a well it means the water level is increasing which indicates an increase in water in storage. It is important that these depth to water measurements are made when a well is not being pumped. When a well has not been used for a period of time, the depth to water is considered stabilized and is called a “static water level”. Several factors may cause static water levels in wells to rise or drop in our wells. Trends in water level changes can reflect changes in precipitation, groundwater recharge, evaporation and transpiration by vegetation-natural water going out, or depletion from well pumping– more water going out than we put back in for recharge of our treated wastewater.

Summary of the Conifer Monitoring Well Data

The CAC Water Team has compiled data from ten wells in the central part of the Conifer-Aspen Park activity center since 2005, see aerial map below. Many of these wells are used daily by individuals and several are monitoring wells that do not get pumped. Many of the wells lie within the activity center and other wells can be considered remote.

Wells with time-series water level data compiled by the Water Resources Team to date are shown as green dots in an aerial photo map. The red lines, or spider legs, are alignments of cross sections that depict the general geology of the area with relative well locations and depths.

An example of a cross section oriented approximately north to south through the Aspen Park activity center shows changes in rock type and depths of wells along the line. Ysp is Silver Plume Granite and Xf is foliated felsic gneiss. Dotted line shows water levels in the wells.

This data has been processed to identify periods of stability between pump cycles that can be considered static water levels (SWL) and provide an indication of the groundwater level in our well-based community.

The table below provides a summary of water level data for nine wells. One of the wells (WP 243773) is a monitoring well located near the Conifer Metropolitan District production wellfield that shows interference from nearby wells that seems to mask out the patterns seen in the other wells and is not included in the table.

Data from the table reveal several interesting trends in water level conditions in and near the activity center.

  • Nine of the wells have similar trends when broken into five-year segments and provide results that are general to the groundwater in Conifer.
  • A majority of the wells have a higher static water level (SWL) in 2024 than they had in 2005.
  • On average, since 2005, the SWL has been increasing at an average of 3.1 feet/year.

Summary charts have been created for each well. Below, we provide 6 charts showing the static water level for 6 wells.

The first chart is for well WP51004, which is located near Jeffco Elementary. The blue line represents time-series plots of water level data throughout the year. Trends of water level changes are depicted by the black line for four, five-year segments. The first segment shows a fast rise, the second a leveling out, the third a slight drop and the last 4 years, a slight rise. Overall the water level has risen 14 feet from 2005.

Notice the annual snow melt peaks in the spring, depicted by the spike in the blue line, midpoint between years, followed by the dry fall/winter cycles. As we explain next, this snowmelt is the biggest reason for the increase in our static water levels over the years.

Precipitation

The team collects, monitors, and analyzes data in many forms. Here we present some observations regarding precipitation.

  • While land use, consumptive use and release of treated wastewater to surface all have some effect on the groundwater budget (water stored in a system, such as a watershed, and the movement of water in and out of that system), the overall trends appear to be following climate trends.
  • Our groundwater budget is more sensitive to climate variability than consumptive use.
  • General water level trends appear to follow precipitation trends.
  • Current level of usage our groundwater resource seems to respond to precipitation changes more strongly than usage.
  • Late winter and spring snowfall have been shown to provide the greatest recharge to the fractured crystalline bedrock aquifer. This next graph shows precipitation from January through May as blue asterisks with the assumption that most of this fell as snow.
  • Trendlines for the same periods of time closely match those of water level changes.
  • Average annual precipitation for the Conifer area is 18 inches.

Average annual precipitation by water year with totals for January through May shown separately as blue asterisks since most of that falls as snow.

Data and interpretations on this website are presented for general information only. This is a compilation of data from multiple sources and the compilers cannot ensure accuracy. Contents are continuously updated and the compilers strive to provide the best data possible but Conifer Area Council does not assume responsibility for use by others.