Montana water data · Town in Richland County

Fairview: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in Fairview: 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 134 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (place boundary)

Wells on record

88

109.8 per sq mi

Median well depth

32 ft

half of wells 22–60 ft

Median static water level

21 ft

40 measurements

Median tested yield

16 gpm

36 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in Fairview?

Of 73 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 32 feet. Half were drilled between 22 and 60 feet; one in ten went deeper than 118 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
66%
50–100 ft
21%
100–200 ft
12%
200–300 ft
1%
300–500 ft
0%
500 ft and deeper
0%

Static water level

21 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 15 and 25 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

16 gpm

median tested yield · half between 10 and 33 gpm

8% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 44% 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 Fairview

5 wells have been completed here since 2016. The newest log on file was completed May 2, 2025. Records run back to 1929.

What the wells are for

  • Monitoring38
  • Domestic24
  • Public Water Supply9
  • Unused5
  • Test Well3

How they were drilled

  • Hollow Stem Auger13
  • Forward Rotary11
  • Rotary11
  • Cable8

Drillers filing well logs in Fairview

  • Pioneer Technical Services Inc3 since 2016 · 2025
  • Hansen Environmental Drilling2 since 2016 · 2022
  • Robert A. Malkuch6 all-time · 2010
  • Gendron6 all-time · 1979
  • Boyce Drilling5 all-time · 1999
  • Salsbury Well Drilling Inc5 all-time · 1983
  • Water Supply4 all-time · 1979
  • Solid Waterwell Drilling3 all-time · 2015

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 Fairview

Montana DNRC lists 31 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 31 groundwater and 0 surface water, 30 of them active. The median priority date is 1982, and the oldest claim dates to 1924.

Types of right

  • Ground Water Certificate21
  • Statement Of Claim9
  • Provisional Permit1

Purposes

  • Domestic18
  • Municipal4
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden3
  • Lawn And Garden2
  • Industrial2

DNRC basins

  • 42M31

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 Fairview 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.

  • Terrace Deposits (pleistocene)22 wells · 61% · median 42 ft
  • Tongue River Member (of Ft Union Fm.)8 wells · 22% · median 67 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 Fairview

Petroleum releases

6

2 open · 4 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

9

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 2004. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.