Montana WaterReport
Check a property

Montana water data · Community in Lewis and Clark County

Helena Valley Northeast: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in Helena Valley Northeast: 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 3,519 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (place boundary)

Wells on record

1,960

36.9 per sq mi

Median well depth

130 ft

half of wells 64–240 ft

Median static water level

43 ft

1,805 measurements

Median tested yield

25 gpm

1,788 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in Helena Valley Northeast?

Of 1,893 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 130 feet. Half were drilled between 64 and 240 feet; one in ten went deeper than 420 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 44 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
13%
50–100 ft
26%
100–200 ft
28%
200–300 ft
14%
300–500 ft
12%
500 ft and deeper
7%

Static water level

43 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 11 and 98 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 16 and 40 gpm

2% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 73% 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 Valley Northeast

321 wells have been completed here since 2016, 20 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed August 27, 2026. Records run back to 1876.

What the wells are for

  • Domestic1,646
  • Stockwater122
  • Irrigation84
  • Monitoring71
  • Unused29

How they were drilled

  • Rotary1,227
  • Air Rotary179
  • Cable167
  • Rotary Air40

Drillers filing well logs in Helena Valley Northeast

  • H & L Drilling Inc138 since 2016 · 2026
  • A-10 Drilling72 since 2016 · 2026
  • Western Water Wells58 since 2016 · 2026
  • Aaaa Water Well Drilling Inc26 since 2016 · 2026
  • Lindsay Drilling Co Inc17 since 2016 · 2025
  • Lindsay Drilling Co7 since 2016 · 2024
  • Okeefe Drilling Co3 since 2016 · 2023
  • Hydrometrics Inc3 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 Helena Valley Northeast

Montana DNRC lists 1,545 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 1,420 groundwater and 125 surface water, 1,404 of them active. The median priority date is 2002, and the oldest claim dates to 1858.

Types of right

  • Ground Water Certificate1,149
  • Statement Of Claim223
  • Provisional Permit121
  • Exempt Notice38
  • Stockwater Permit8

Purposes

  • Domestic506
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden377
  • Stock130
  • Irrigation111
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden; Stock91

DNRC basins

  • 41I1,545

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 Valley Northeast 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)289 wells · 68% · median 46 ft
  • Sediments (tertiary)48 wells · 11% · median 134 ft
  • Spokane Shale26 wells · 6% · median 146 ft
  • Belt Supergroup13 wells · 3% · median 200 ft
  • Alluvium (holocene)12 wells · 3% · median 60 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 Valley Northeast

Petroleum releases

9

0 open · 9 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

5

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 1998. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.