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Montana water data · County

Chouteau County: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in Chouteau 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 8,713 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA SEMS, EPA UST Finder

Wells on record

2,549

2,246 with recorded depth

Median well depth

39 ft

half of wells 23–111 ft

Median static water level

20 ft

1,612 measurements

Median tested yield

10 gpm

1,326 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in Chouteau County?

Of 2,246 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 39 feet. Half were drilled between 23 and 111 feet; one in ten went deeper than 269 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 17 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
59%
50–100 ft
13%
100–200 ft
14%
200–300 ft
5%
300–500 ft
4%
500 ft and deeper
5%

Static water level

20 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 10 and 50 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

10 gpm

median tested yield · half between 5 and 20 gpm

23% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 31% 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 Chouteau County

211 wells have been completed here since 2016, 4 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed August 17, 2026. Records run back to 1885.

What the wells are for

  • Stockwater1,024
  • Domestic830
  • Monitoring620
  • Test Well268
  • Irrigation158

How they were drilled

  • Unknown377
  • Rotary266
  • Scs Drill163
  • Dug157

Drillers filing well logs in Chouteau County

  • Montana Salinity Control Association110 since 2016 · 2024
  • Aquasource Drilling Llc24 since 2016 · 2026
  • Hi-line Drilling Inc15 since 2016 · 2025
  • Thomas, Dean, And Hoskins, Inc.13 since 2016 · 2025
  • Central Drilling Inc10 since 2016 · 2021
  • Boland Drilling9 since 2016 · 2025
  • Haz Tech Drilling Inc8 since 2016 · 2017
  • Aquasource Inc Llc4 since 2016 · 2022

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 Chouteau County

Montana DNRC lists 5,986 water rights in the county: 1,974 groundwater and 4,012 surface water, 5,393 of them active. The median priority date is 1945, and the oldest claim dates to 1870.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim5,036
  • Ground Water Certificate520
  • Provisional Permit196
  • Stockwater Permit173
  • Exempt Notice35

Purposes

  • Stock4,333
  • Irrigation638
  • Domestic361
  • Multiple Domestic149
  • Domestic; Stock75

DNRC basins

  • 41T1,964
  • 41Q1,284
  • 41R1,066
  • 40H634
  • 41P614

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 Chouteau 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.

  • Glacial Drift178 wells · 34% · median 33 ft
  • Alluvium (quaternary)83 wells · 16% · median 31 ft
  • Eagle Sandstone71 wells · 14% · median 235 ft
  • Judith River Formation (of Montana Group)67 wells · 13% · median 145 ft
  • Virgelle Sandstone Member (of Eagle Sandstone)27 wells · 5% · median 352 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 Chouteau County

Petroleum releases

59

12 open · 47 resolved

Superfund program sites

1

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

118

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.