Montana water data · City in Chouteau County
Fort Benton: well depth, groundwater and water rights
What the public record says about water in Fort Benton: 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 175 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (place boundary)
Wells on record
83
36.2 per sq mi
Median well depth
33 ft
half of wells 26–41 ft
Median static water level
18 ft
61 measurements
Median tested yield
25 gpm
38 pump tests
Well depth
How deep are wells in Fort Benton?
Of 68 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 33 feet. Half were drilled between 26 and 41 feet; one in ten went deeper than 55 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 24 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.
Static water level
18 ft
median depth to water at rest · half between 15 and 30 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
25 gpm
median tested yield · half between 20 and 48 gpm
8% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 79% 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 Fort Benton
11 wells have been completed here since 2016, 1 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed March 25, 2026. Records run back to 1910.
What the wells are for
- Monitoring34
- Domestic24
- Irrigation21
- Stockwater5
- Test Well5
How they were drilled
- Rotary11
- Unknown8
- Dug6
- Cable6
Drillers filing well logs in Fort Benton
- Aquasource Drilling Llc6 since 2016 · 2026
- Haz Tech Drilling Inc3 since 2016 · 2017
- Hi-line Drilling Inc2 since 2016 · 2021
- Boland Drilling29 all-time · 2013
- Unknown14 all-time · 1973
- Okeefe Drilling Co4 all-time · 1994
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 Fort Benton
Montana DNRC lists 39 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 30 groundwater and 9 surface water, 34 of them active. The median priority date is 1982, and the oldest claim dates to 1886.
Types of right
- Ground Water Certificate19
- Statement Of Claim12
- Provisional Permit3
- Exempt Notice2
- Water Reservation2
Purposes
- Lawn And Garden13
- Domestic10
- Irrigation4
- Municipal3
- Multiple Domestic2
DNRC basins
- 41Q39
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.
Environmental groundwater screening
Documented environmental sites in Fort Benton
Petroleum releases
16
2 open · 14 resolved
Superfund program sites
0
none on the National Priorities List
Registered tank facilities
37
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 2001. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.