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Montana water data · City in Flathead County

Columbia Falls: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in Columbia Falls: 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 232 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (place boundary)

Wells on record

128

56.1 per sq mi

Median well depth

108 ft

half of wells 57–155 ft

Median static water level

57 ft

116 measurements

Median tested yield

30 gpm

100 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in Columbia Falls?

Of 117 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 108 feet. Half were drilled between 57 and 155 feet; one in ten went deeper than 226 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 34 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
22%
50–100 ft
23%
100–200 ft
41%
200–300 ft
10%
300–500 ft
3%
500 ft and deeper
0%

Static water level

57 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 27 and 78 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

30 gpm

median tested yield · half between 20 and 40 gpm

1% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 75% 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 Columbia Falls

9 wells have been completed here since 2016. The newest log on file was completed May 12, 2021. Records run back to 1905.

What the wells are for

  • Domestic74
  • Monitoring20
  • Public Water Supply13
  • Irrigation4
  • Stockwater3

How they were drilled

  • Rotary24
  • Cable22
  • Auger17
  • Forward Rotary15

Drillers filing well logs in Columbia Falls

  • Okeefe Drilling Co4 since 2016 · 2020
  • Chambers Drilling Company2 since 2016 · 2021
  • Billmayer Drilling1 since 2016 · 2019
  • Olsen & Justin15 all-time · 1973
  • Weber14 all-time · 2001
  • O.k.11 all-time · 1995
  • Cni/ben6 all-time · 1991
  • Castlio Drilling5 all-time · 1991

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 Columbia Falls

Montana DNRC lists 70 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 62 groundwater and 8 surface water, 63 of them active. The median priority date is 1980, and the oldest claim dates to 1937.

Types of right

  • Ground Water Certificate39
  • Statement Of Claim17
  • Provisional Permit8
  • Exempt Notice6

Purposes

  • Domestic30
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden6
  • Irrigation5
  • Commercial5
  • Fish And Wildlife4

DNRC basins

  • 76LJ70

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 Columbia Falls 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 Drift45 wells · 44% · median 109 ft
  • Alluvium (holocene)26 wells · 25% · median 35 ft
  • Alluvium (pleistocene)23 wells · 22% · median 178 ft
  • Glacial Outwash (pleistocene)6 wells · 6% · median 33 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 Columbia Falls

Petroleum releases

13

3 open · 10 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

21

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 2026. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.