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Montana water data · County

Broadwater County: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in Broadwater County: 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 8,997 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder

Wells on record

4,015

3,880 with recorded depth

Median well depth

141 ft

half of wells 80–240 ft

Median static water level

55 ft

3,773 measurements

Median tested yield

25 gpm

3,718 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in Broadwater County?

Of 3,880 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 141 feet. Half were drilled between 80 and 240 feet; one in ten went deeper than 350 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 45 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
11%
50–100 ft
21%
100–200 ft
33%
200–300 ft
20%
300–500 ft
12%
500 ft and deeper
4%

Static water level

55 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 25 and 101 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 15 and 38 gpm

3% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 69% 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 Broadwater County

1,169 wells have been completed here since 2016, 45 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed June 8, 2026. Records run back to 1860.

What the wells are for

  • Domestic3,190
  • Stockwater558
  • Irrigation202
  • Monitoring142
  • Public Water Supply46

How they were drilled

  • Rotary2,677
  • Cable327
  • Forward Rotary131
  • Air Rotary106

Drillers filing well logs in Broadwater County

  • Red Tiger Drilling305 since 2016 · 2026
  • A-10 Drilling289 since 2016 · 2026
  • H & L Drilling Inc274 since 2016 · 2026
  • Western Water Wells152 since 2016 · 2026
  • Potts Drilling Inc34 since 2016 · 2026
  • Lindsay Drilling Co Inc24 since 2016 · 2022
  • Van Dyken Drilling Inc24 since 2016 · 2025
  • Old Town Drilling18 since 2016 · 2026

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 Broadwater County

Montana DNRC lists 4,887 water rights in the county: 3,242 groundwater and 1,645 surface water, 4,363 of them active. The median priority date is 1978, and the oldest claim dates to 1852.

Types of right

  • Ground Water Certificate2,392
  • Statement Of Claim2,241
  • Provisional Permit99
  • Exempt Notice52
  • Converted Terminates45

Purposes

  • Stock1,397
  • Domestic1,141
  • Irrigation800
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden568
  • Domestic; Stock119

DNRC basins

  • 41I4,233
  • 41G652
  • 41E1
  • 41J1

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 Broadwater County 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.

  • Sediments (tertiary)350 wells · 61% · median 96 ft
  • Alluvium (quaternary)180 wells · 31% · median 32 ft
  • Ravalli Group13 wells · 2% · median 62 ft
  • Madison Group Or Limestone9 wells · 2% · median 86 ft
  • Climbing Arrow Formation (of Bozeman Group)5 wells · 1% · median 420 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 Broadwater County

Petroleum releases

44

5 open · 39 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

51

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 2024. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.