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Montana water data · County

Dawson County: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in Dawson 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 8,750 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder

Wells on record

3,967

3,685 with recorded depth

Median well depth

90 ft

half of wells 38–165 ft

Median static water level

42 ft

2,552 measurements

Median tested yield

10 gpm

2,606 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in Dawson County?

Of 3,685 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 90 feet. Half were drilled between 38 and 165 feet; one in ten went deeper than 275 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 20 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
33%
50–100 ft
20%
100–200 ft
29%
200–300 ft
9%
300–500 ft
5%
500 ft and deeper
5%

Static water level

42 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 21 and 84 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 17 gpm

14% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 24% 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 Dawson County

383 wells have been completed here since 2016, 3 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed April 20, 2026. Records run back to 1884.

What the wells are for

  • Stockwater1,980
  • Domestic1,443
  • Monitoring495
  • Unused209
  • Public Water Supply85

How they were drilled

  • Rotary802
  • Cable315
  • Forward Rotary310
  • Bored203

Drillers filing well logs in Dawson County

  • H & H Drilling95 since 2016 · 2025
  • Environmental West Exploration68 since 2016 · 2018
  • Haz Tech Drilling Inc54 since 2016 · 2025
  • Sharp Drilling Inc37 since 2016 · 2025
  • Cascade Drilling Lp26 since 2016 · 2016
  • West Central Environmental Consultants19 since 2016 · 2025
  • Askin Drilling16 since 2016 · 2026
  • Hansen Environmental Drilling11 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 Dawson County

Montana DNRC lists 4,610 water rights in the county: 2,645 groundwater and 1,965 surface water, 4,319 of them active. The median priority date is 1960, and the oldest claim dates to 1864.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim3,016
  • Ground Water Certificate1,281
  • Provisional Permit164
  • Stockwater Permit72
  • Exempt Notice47

Purposes

  • Stock2,950
  • Domestic636
  • Irrigation370
  • Domestic; Stock128
  • Multiple Domestic66

DNRC basins

  • 42M3,970
  • 40P640

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 Dawson 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.

  • Tongue River Member (of Ft Union Fm.)916 wells · 35% · median 100 ft
  • Hell Creek Formation493 wells · 19% · median 120 ft
  • Fort Union Formation381 wells · 15% · median 110 ft
  • Fox Hills-hell Creek Aquifer311 wells · 12% · median 280 ft
  • Alluvium (quaternary)240 wells · 9% · median 26 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 Dawson County

Petroleum releases

87

22 open · 65 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

86

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 2025. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.