Free Determining the Location of a Well - Colorado

Form GWS-60 12/2004
COLORADO DIVISION OF WATER RESOURCES OFFICE OF THE STATE ENGINEER Determining the Location of a Well When filling out the well permit application, you are required to propose a location of the well, within 200 feet of the actual location. This is a critical requirement for the Division of Water Resources to evaluate whether a permit can be approved. Over 50% of the well permit applications returned to applicants are due to this error or omission. This results in a delay in the process of the application and ultimately the time required to complete the permitting process. To assist the applicant in describing a particular parcel, for illustrative purposes, a parcel of land will be described in the NW 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of Section 12, Township 3 North, Range 60 West of the 6th Principal Meridian. Most parcels of land in the State of Colorado are described using the Rectangular Survey method. Under this system, the primary unit of location is the Township. Townships are 36 square miles whose number can be identified by knowing its north-south location and east-west location to respective baselines. In Colorado, the primary Principal Meridians are the Sixth, New Mexico and Ute. Lands in portions of Costilla County and in the Luis Maria Baca Grant have been identified separately as the Costilla Survey and the Baca Survey. The Sixth Meridian covers all but the Southwest portion of the State. The New Mexico covers the Southwest portion and intermixed in this area are the Ute, Costilla and Baca surveys. A particular township is described beginning at the Principal Meridian, followed the Township number and direction of North or South, followed by the Range identified as a number and a direction of East or West, Section number, and finally the section divided into quarters. A typical Township comprises 36 square section miles, each section ideally is one mile square, or 5,280 feet on a side. Sections may be divided into quarter sections, typically from 4 quarters, 160 acres each to 16 quarters, 40 acres each or 64 quarters, 10 acres each. A quarter section is 2,640 feet square. A quarter, quarter section is 1,320 feet square. A quarter, quarter, quarter section is 660 feet square. Township 3 North, Range 60 West 6th Principal Meridian Divided into 36 Sections. 6 7 18 19 30 31 5 8 17 20 29 32 4 9 16 21 28 33 3 10 15 22 27 34 2 11 14 23 26 35 1 12 13 24 25 36 Township 3 North

Range 60 West

Remember that north should always be oriented to the top of the map. The section lines, major outside boundaries of the section are described as the North, South, East and West Section lines. Each ideal section may be divided into equal ¼ sections as described below.

Each Section, approximately 640 acres is divided into ¼ Sections (approximately 160 acres). In this example, Section 12 as highlighted would be divided as follows: NW ¼ NE ¼

12
SW ¼ SE ¼

Each ¼ in a standard Section is 2,640 feet square and comprises 160 acres. Each ¼ Section can be further divided into additional quarters using the same quarter naming system. Each ¼ of ¼ Section is 1,320 feet square.

NW 1/4

NE 1/4

SE 1/4
SW 1/4 SE 1/4

In this example, the description is the NW ¼ OF THE SE ¼ of Section 12, Township 3 North, Range 60 West, 6th Principal Meridian. Remember that the smallest quarter is the first quarter described. To finalize the description of the well location, the distances from section lines to the well location must be described. The distances are measured from the outside section lines, not the interior lines. In this example, the well will be located 1,500 feet from the South Section line and 1,400 from the East Section line in Section 12, T. 3 N., R. 60 W., 6th P.M. NE Corner

NW ¼ 5,280 Ft. 2,640 Ft.

NE ¼

12
SE ¼
1,400 Ft.

SW ¼
1,500 Ft.

Well Location: NW ¼ of the SE ¼ of Section 12, Township 3 North, Range 60 West, 6th Principal Meridian, 1,500 feet from the South and 1,400 feet from the east Section lines respectively. SE Corner

1,320 Ft. This publication provides basic information on locating a well. Unfortunately, many parcels of land are irregular in shape and may make precise locations difficult. Further assistance can be found by purchasing a United Stated Geologic Survey 7.5 minute topographic map of your area at a scale of 1 inch equals 2000 feet. Maps may be purchased from the local U.S.G.S. Map Sales Offices and retail map outlets.