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Montana water data · Community in Lake County

Bear Dance: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in Bear Dance: how deep wells go, where the water table sits, what wells produce, which water rights are on file, and which documented environmental sites are nearby. Area statistics orient you; a property report analyzes the records around one specific parcel.

Updated September 2026 · Based on 535 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (place boundary)

Wells on record

142

51.2 per sq mi

Median well depth

141 ft

half of wells 100–200 ft

Median static water level

35 ft

114 measurements

Median tested yield

25 gpm

133 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in Bear Dance?

Of 141 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 141 feet. Half were drilled between 100 and 200 feet; one in ten went deeper than 300 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 59 feet. Depth is set by local geology and position on the landscape, both of which change over short distances, so the spread matters as much as the median.

under 50 ft
9%
50–100 ft
16%
100–200 ft
49%
200–300 ft
16%
300–500 ft
9%
500 ft and deeper
2%

Static water level

35 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 10 and 60 ft

The static level is how far below ground the water stands before pumping, measured by the driller at completion. It affects pump setting and operating cost, and it moves with season and with neighbouring use.

Well yield

25 gpm

median tested yield · half between 17 and 37 gpm

4% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 71% produced 20 or more. These are short completion tests, not sustained-capacity tests; a household typically needs 3 to 5 gpm with storage.

Drilling activity

Recent well drilling in Bear Dance

22 wells have been completed here since 2016, 3 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed June 25, 2026. Records run back to 1923.

What the wells are for

  • Domestic130
  • Irrigation12
  • Stockwater4
  • Public Water Supply1
  • Monitoring1

How they were drilled

  • Rotary90
  • Forward Rotary20
  • Air Rotary5
  • Cable5

Drillers filing well logs in Bear Dance

  • Billmayer Drilling7 since 2016 · 2024
  • Okeefe Drilling Co5 since 2016 · 2024
  • Ace Drilling3 since 2016 · 2025
  • Allwest Drilling Inc1 since 2016 · 2018
  • Cyclone Drilling Inc22 all-time · 2015
  • Liberty Drilling & Pump Co17 all-time · 2004
  • Western Water Works Inc12 all-time · 2004
  • Castlio Drilling4 all-time · 1996

Ranked by well logs filed with GWIC, public record only. Not an endorsement, a referral or a paid listing; we have no business relationship with these companies. Verify licensing with the Montana Board of Water Well Contractors before hiring.

Water rights

Water rights on file in Bear Dance

Montana DNRC lists 385 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 222 groundwater and 163 surface water, 366 of them active. The median priority date is 1978, and the oldest claim dates to 1889.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim173
  • Ground Water Certificate151
  • Provisional Permit41
  • Exempt Notice8
  • Registration Certificate8

Purposes

  • Domestic135
  • Irrigation94
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden39
  • Multiple Domestic29
  • Domestic; Irrigation16

DNRC basins

  • 76LJ385

Area totals describe the neighbourhood, not any one parcel. Montana publishes no authoritative link between a parcel and a water right; whether a right attaches to a specific property is a property-level question that our reports answer with the DNRC abstract linked.

Aquifers and geology

What wells in Bear Dance draw from

Drillers record the aquifer a well is completed in. The units below account for the wells here that carry an aquifer assignment; the median depth beside each is for wells completed in that unit.

  • Ravalli Group52 wells · 65% · median 124 ft
  • Belt Supergroup16 wells · 20% · median 161 ft

Aquifer assignments are the driller's, recorded at completion, and many older logs carry none. Absence of an assignment is not evidence about the geology.

Environmental groundwater screening

Documented environmental sites in Bear Dance

Petroleum releases

4

0 open · 4 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

4

underground storage tanks, current and historical

A documented release or site in the area is not evidence that any particular well is affected. Whether a release reaches a well depends on groundwater flow direction, geology, well depth and construction, the extent of the plume and the cleanup performed. The most recent release reported here dates to 2004. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.