Colorado
Strong off-grid potential: any parcel not served by municipal or community water typically qualifies for a household well permit, and that same qualification unlocks unlimited rainwater catchment — lot size is irrelevant.
- Region
- West
- Overall score
- +9
- Confidence
- High
How CO scores
- +Excellent solar
- +Household well permits available on any parcel not served by municipal/community water (lot size doesn't matter)
- +Unlimited rainwater storage allowed where a well permit qualifies
- +Some permissive rural counties (Costilla, Saguache)
- −Prior appropriation doctrine — diverting from a spring, creek, ditch, or any surface source is illegal without a decreed water right
- −Properties served by municipal/community water are capped at two 55 gal rain barrels (110 gal) and cannot drill, regardless of acreage
- −Wildfire severe
- −High elevation cold and short growing season
Water
+8Prior appropriation state, but Colorado's exempt-well statute (CRS 37-92-602) allows household-use-only wells on any parcel not served by a municipal or community water system — acreage is not the test, service status is. Parcels that qualify for an exempt well also qualify for a rainwater catchment permit with unlimited storage (people on half-acre lots routinely run a well plus unlimited cisterns). The 110 gal / two-barrel cap only applies to properties inside a water provider's service area. Surface water is a different story: pulling from a spring, creek, or ditch without a decreed right is a serious violation, even on your own land.
Legal
+6Costilla and Saguache historically permissive but tightening; check current building department rules before buying.
Soil
+0Variable; arid in west, better on Front Range and eastern plains.
Energy
+18Excellent solar across most of the state.
Climate Risk
-18Wildfire, blizzards, hard freezes at elevation.