Montana water data · City in Ravalli County
Hamilton: well depth, groundwater and water rights
What the public record says about water in Hamilton: 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 959 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (place boundary)
Wells on record
531
208.7 per sq mi
Median well depth
39 ft
half of wells 33–47 ft
Median static water level
13 ft
468 measurements
Median tested yield
35 gpm
471 pump tests
Well depth
How deep are wells in Hamilton?
Of 509 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 39 feet. Half were drilled between 33 and 47 feet; one in ten went deeper than 69 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 25 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
13 ft
median depth to water at rest · half between 9 and 18 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
35 gpm
median tested yield · half between 20 and 63 gpm
2% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 76% 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 Hamilton
20 wells have been completed here since 2016, 2 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed November 21, 2025. Records run back to 1900.
What the wells are for
- Domestic282
- Irrigation196
- Public Water Supply27
- Monitoring26
- Stockwater14
How they were drilled
- Rotary142
- Cable125
- Forward Rotary28
- Churn14
Drillers filing well logs in Hamilton
- Eslinger Drilling & Pump Service6 since 2016 · 2021
- West Central Environmental Consultants4 since 2016 · 2025
- Eagle Drilling And Pump Service3 since 2016 · 2025
- Ravalli Drilling Inc2 since 2016 · 2020
- Okeefe Drilling Co2 since 2016 · 2023
- Aqwa Drilling Llc1 since 2016 · 2022
- Jacobson Drilling39 all-time · 1987
- Preston Drilling21 all-time · 1997
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 Hamilton
Montana DNRC lists 381 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 348 groundwater and 33 surface water, 351 of them active. The median priority date is 1986, and the oldest claim dates to 1866.
Types of right
- Ground Water Certificate262
- Statement Of Claim81
- Exempt Notice21
- Provisional Permit14
- 62-73 Ground Water Record3
Purposes
- Domestic114
- Lawn And Garden97
- Domestic; Lawn And Garden49
- Irrigation37
- Commercial24
DNRC basins
- 76H381
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 Hamilton 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.
- Alluvium (holocene)35 wells · 52% · median 39 ft
- Terrace Deposits (pleistocene)10 wells · 15% · median 33 ft
- Alluvium (quaternary)10 wells · 15% · median 41 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 Hamilton
Petroleum releases
20
1 open · 19 resolved
Superfund program sites
0
none on the National Priorities List
Registered tank facilities
27
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 2024. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.