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Montana water data · County

Golden Valley County: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in Golden Valley 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 3,376 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder

Wells on record

995

947 with recorded depth

Median well depth

100 ft

half of wells 45–175 ft

Median static water level

30 ft

743 measurements

Median tested yield

10 gpm

838 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in Golden Valley County?

Of 947 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 100 feet. Half were drilled between 45 and 175 feet; one in ten went deeper than 302 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 23 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
27%
50–100 ft
22%
100–200 ft
30%
200–300 ft
10%
300–500 ft
6%
500 ft and deeper
5%

Static water level

30 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 16 and 60 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 22 gpm

22% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 33% 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 Golden Valley County

79 wells have been completed here since 2016, 8 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed August 27, 2026. Records run back to 1909.

What the wells are for

  • Stockwater587
  • Domestic332
  • Monitoring85
  • Irrigation62
  • Public Water Supply8

How they were drilled

  • Rotary341
  • Forward Rotary67
  • Cable39
  • Cable Tool26

Drillers filing well logs in Golden Valley County

  • Outlaw Drilling & Pump, Llc29 since 2016 · 2026
  • Vidic Drilling Inc16 since 2016 · 2023
  • Vidic Drilling11 since 2016 · 2022
  • American Drilling & Supply9 since 2016 · 2023
  • Aaqua Drilling Inc3 since 2016 · 2022
  • Gordon Drilling Inc2 since 2016 · 2018
  • Bertram Drilling Inc2 since 2016 · 2023
  • Birchell Drilling1 since 2016 · 2016

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 Golden Valley County

Montana DNRC lists 2,364 water rights in the county: 1,214 groundwater and 1,150 surface water, 2,181 of them active. The median priority date is 1941, and the oldest claim dates to 1862.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim1,803
  • Ground Water Certificate439
  • Provisional Permit77
  • Exempt Notice29
  • Stockwater Permit12

Purposes

  • Stock1,623
  • Irrigation353
  • Domestic176
  • Domestic; Stock57
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden22

DNRC basins

  • 40A2,342
  • 43Q16
  • 40C4
  • 40B2

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 Golden Valley 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.

  • Eagle Sandstone130 wells · 23% · median 135 ft
  • Judith River Formation (of Montana Group)98 wells · 17% · median 100 ft
  • Hell Creek Formation96 wells · 17% · median 105 ft
  • Colorado Shale Or Fm. (of Colorado Group)51 wells · 9% · median 160 ft
  • Claggett Shale Or Formation49 wells · 9% · median 90 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 Golden Valley County

Petroleum releases

8

1 open · 7 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 2007. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.