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Montana water data · Community in Lincoln County

Fortine: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in Fortine: 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 268 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (place boundary)

Wells on record

132

18.6 per sq mi

Median well depth

220 ft

half of wells 108–262 ft

Median static water level

100 ft

127 measurements

Median tested yield

28 gpm

128 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in Fortine?

Of 131 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 220 feet. Half were drilled between 108 and 262 feet; one in ten went deeper than 305 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 82 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
2%
50–100 ft
16%
100–200 ft
27%
200–300 ft
41%
300–500 ft
12%
500 ft and deeper
2%

Static water level

100 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 43 and 151 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

28 gpm

median tested yield · half between 20 and 35 gpm

2% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 81% 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 Fortine

17 wells have been completed here since 2016, 4 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed June 8, 2026. Records run back to 1962.

What the wells are for

  • Domestic122
  • Public Water Supply6
  • Stockwater1

How they were drilled

  • Rotary72
  • Forward Rotary28
  • Churn Drill11
  • Cable8

Drillers filing well logs in Fortine

  • Davis Brothers Drilling12 since 2016 · 2026
  • Water Resource Services3 since 2016 · 2025
  • Joe Liss Water Wells, Inc.1 since 2016 · 2017
  • B And B Drilling13 all-time · 1977
  • Certified Well And Pump11 all-time · 2007
  • Billmayer Drilling11 all-time · 2007
  • Glazier Drilling9 all-time · 2006
  • Gold Brick7 all-time · 1973

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 Fortine

Montana DNRC lists 134 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 113 groundwater and 21 surface water, 129 of them active. The median priority date is 1988, and the oldest claim dates to 1904.

Types of right

  • Ground Water Certificate103
  • Statement Of Claim24
  • Provisional Permit5
  • Exempt Notice2

Purposes

  • Domestic52
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden18
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden; Stock9
  • Stock8
  • Irrigation8

DNRC basins

  • 76D134

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 Fortine 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 Drift65 wells · 93% · median 140 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 Fortine

Petroleum releases

1

0 open · 1 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

1

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 1989. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.