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Montana water data · County

Carbon County: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in Carbon 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 15,150 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA SEMS, EPA UST Finder

Wells on record

6,577

6,401 with recorded depth

Median well depth

58 ft

half of wells 36–120 ft

Median static water level

19 ft

5,971 measurements

Median tested yield

24 gpm

5,965 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in Carbon County?

Of 6,401 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 58 feet. Half were drilled between 36 and 120 feet; one in ten went deeper than 250 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 26 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
45%
50–100 ft
25%
100–200 ft
16%
200–300 ft
7%
300–500 ft
6%
500 ft and deeper
2%

Static water level

19 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 10 and 39 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

24 gpm

median tested yield · half between 10 and 40 gpm

10% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 61% 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 Carbon County

1,111 wells have been completed here since 2016, 105 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed September 14, 2026. Records run back to 1875.

What the wells are for

  • Domestic4,787
  • Stockwater1,307
  • Irrigation749
  • Monitoring230
  • Public Water Supply93

How they were drilled

  • Rotary4,202
  • Forward Rotary365
  • Cable254
  • Churn139

Drillers filing well logs in Carbon County

  • Aaqua Drilling Inc815 since 2016 · 2026
  • Douglas Drilling137 since 2016 · 2026
  • American Drilling & Supply41 since 2016 · 2026
  • Bertram Drilling Inc36 since 2016 · 2025
  • A-1 Drilling36 since 2016 · 2026
  • Olympus Technical Services13 since 2016 · 2022
  • Douglas Drilling Llc9 since 2016 · 2026
  • Sharp Drilling Inc8 since 2016 · 2023

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 Carbon County

Montana DNRC lists 8,448 water rights in the county: 4,862 groundwater and 3,581 surface water, 7,631 of them active. The median priority date is 1977, and the oldest claim dates to 1863.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim3,991
  • Ground Water Certificate3,861
  • Provisional Permit342
  • Exempt Notice124
  • Stockwater Permit54

Purposes

  • Stock2,041
  • Domestic1,998
  • Irrigation1,826
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden641
  • Lawn And Garden462

DNRC basins

  • 43D7,348
  • 43C524
  • 43N239
  • 43P174
  • 43QJ160

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 Carbon 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.

  • Alluvium (quaternary)1,815 wells · 36% · median 38 ft
  • Fort Union Formation1,033 wells · 21% · median 120 ft
  • Terrace Deposits (quaternary)373 wells · 7% · median 32 ft
  • Eagle Sandstone249 wells · 5% · median 110 ft
  • Sand And Gravel (quaternary)227 wells · 5% · median 39 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 Carbon County

Petroleum releases

50

3 open · 47 resolved

Superfund program sites

1

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

74

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 2017. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.