Septic (OWTS) Permits in Archuleta County, Colorado

Regulation 43 and the county's own OWTS rule

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment adopted a revised statewide septic framework, Regulation 43, in March 2025, effective June 2025 -- it sets minimum standards nationally for OWTS location, design, construction, and use for systems up to 2,000 gallons per day in design capacity. Archuleta County's Board of Health used that update to adopt its own county-specific OWTS regulation, administered through the county's Water Quality Department (part of Development Services) rather than through San Juan Basin Public Health (SJBPH), which had regulated septic here since 1967 and still does in neighboring La Plata and San Juan counties.

A small state surcharge is built into the county's permit fee: Archuleta County Water Quality collects $23 for each OWTS permit it issues, retaining $3 for its own administrative costs and transmitting $20 to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. That surcharge is on top of the county's base permit fee, which is set separately in the county's own fee schedule and should be confirmed directly since it isn't fixed by the state regulation.

A genuine record-access gap during the transition -- confirm before you assume

Because the transition from SJBPH to Archuleta County Water Quality (ACWQ) is recent, the county has been working through how to give the public access to septic permits SJBPH issued in Archuleta County before the switch, alongside new permits ACWQ issues going forward. As of this review, the county describes an internal system with an external public-record search intended for the near future but not yet fully in place -- meaning a straightforward online lookup of an older Archuleta County septic permit may not turn anything up even though a valid permit exists in SJBPH's older records.

If you're evaluating a parcel with an existing septic system installed before the transition, don't treat a blank result in the county's current permit-lookup tool as proof no permit exists -- ask ACWQ directly whether the historical record needs to be pulled from SJBPH's archives, and get that confirmation in writing before assuming the system is unpermitted.

What to ask for on a specific parcel

• Whether the existing system was permitted before or after the 2025-2026 transition, and which office (SJBPH or ACWQ) holds the record.
• The design capacity and system type on file, since Regulation 43's standards apply specifically to systems at or below 2,000 gallons per day -- a larger commercial-scale system may fall under different requirements.
• Current base permit fees for a new installation, repair, or transfer-of-title inspection directly from ACWQ, since the $23 state surcharge is only part of the total cost.