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Montana water data · Town in Stillwater County

Columbus: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in Columbus: 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 447 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA SEMS, EPA UST Finder, US Census (place boundary)

Wells on record

258

188 per sq mi

Median well depth

39 ft

half of wells 19–55 ft

Median static water level

24 ft

185 measurements

Median tested yield

35 gpm

124 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in Columbus?

Of 210 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 39 feet. Half were drilled between 19 and 55 feet; one in ten went deeper than 59 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 16 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
41%
100–200 ft
0%
200–300 ft
0%
300–500 ft
0%
500 ft and deeper
0%

Static water level

24 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 11 and 35 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

35 gpm

median tested yield · half between 30 and 50 gpm

0% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 98% 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 Columbus

27 wells have been completed here since 2016, 3 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed April 30, 2026. Records run back to 1920.

What the wells are for

  • Monitoring122
  • Irrigation62
  • Domestic47
  • Other12
  • Unused6

How they were drilled

  • Rotary111
  • Hollowstem Auger32
  • Direct Push19
  • Air Rotary12

Drillers filing well logs in Columbus

  • Aaqua Drilling Inc12 since 2016 · 2025
  • Haz Tech Drilling Inc6 since 2016 · 2020
  • Pioneer Technical Services Inc3 since 2016 · 2022
  • Okeefe Drilling Co2 since 2016 · 2024
  • Y-environmental16 all-time · 2007
  • Maxim Technologies13 all-time · 2002
  • B & H12 all-time · 2001
  • Pro Pump & Equipment Inc9 all-time · 2013

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 Columbus

Montana DNRC lists 144 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 139 groundwater and 5 surface water, 131 of them active. The median priority date is 1999, and the oldest claim dates to 1906.

Types of right

  • Ground Water Certificate132
  • Statement Of Claim6
  • Provisional Permit5
  • Water Reservation1

Purposes

  • Lawn And Garden81
  • Domestic33
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden6
  • Municipal4
  • Irrigation4

DNRC basins

  • 43QJ141
  • 43Q2
  • 43C1

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 Columbus 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.

  • Alluvial Fan Deposits (quaternary)54 wells · 43% · median 55 ft
  • Sand And Gravel (quaternary)44 wells · 35% · median 41 ft
  • Sand And Gravel (holocene)15 wells · 12% · median 15 ft
  • Alluvium (quaternary)12 wells · 9% · median 53 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 Columbus

Petroleum releases

24

9 open · 15 resolved

Superfund program sites

1

1 on or proposed for the NPL

Registered tank facilities

20

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 2022. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.