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Montana water data · City in Lewis and Clark County

Helena: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in Helena: 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 1,697 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA SEMS, EPA UST Finder, US Census (place boundary)

Wells on record

914

53.2 per sq mi

Median well depth

98 ft

half of wells 45–180 ft

Median static water level

39 ft

720 measurements

Median tested yield

22 gpm

588 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in Helena?

Of 828 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 98 feet. Half were drilled between 45 and 180 feet; one in ten went deeper than 300 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.

under 50 ft
27%
50–100 ft
23%
100–200 ft
28%
200–300 ft
10%
300–500 ft
8%
500 ft and deeper
3%

Static water level

39 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 20 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

22 gpm

median tested yield · half between 16 and 35 gpm

3% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 71% 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 Helena

89 wells have been completed here since 2016, 8 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed May 18, 2026. Records run back to 1872.

What the wells are for

  • Domestic370
  • Monitoring272
  • Irrigation186
  • Public Water Supply23
  • Stockwater16

How they were drilled

  • Rotary308
  • Air Rotary202
  • Cable70
  • Hollowstem Auger63

Drillers filing well logs in Helena

  • Okeefe Drilling Co41 since 2016 · 2026
  • H & L Drilling Inc12 since 2016 · 2026
  • A-10 Drilling9 since 2016 · 2026
  • Cascade Drilling Lp6 since 2016 · 2020
  • Lindsay Drilling Co Inc5 since 2016 · 2023
  • Yellow Jacket Drilling Services Llc3 since 2016 · 2023
  • Lindsay Drilling Co3 since 2016 · 2025
  • Pioneer Technical Services Inc3 since 2016 · 2023

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 Helena

Montana DNRC lists 493 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 468 groundwater and 25 surface water, 457 of them active. The median priority date is 1988, and the oldest claim dates to 1866.

Types of right

  • Ground Water Certificate366
  • Statement Of Claim89
  • Provisional Permit19
  • Exempt Notice17
  • Water Reservation2

Purposes

  • Lawn And Garden161
  • Domestic122
  • Irrigation55
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden40
  • Commercial30

DNRC basins

  • 41I493

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 Helena 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 (quaternary)69 wells · 31% · median 63 ft
  • Helena Dolomite62 wells · 28% · median 150 ft
  • Marsh Formation (of Missoula Group)36 wells · 16% · median 177 ft
  • Sediments (tertiary)27 wells · 12% · median 120 ft
  • Alluvium (holocene)18 wells · 8% · 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 Helena

Petroleum releases

122

29 open · 93 resolved

Superfund program sites

2

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

166

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 2025. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.