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Montana water data · Community in Lewis and Clark County

Helena Valley Northwest: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in Helena Valley Northwest: 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 2,409 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (place boundary)

Wells on record

1,283

78.3 per sq mi

Median well depth

147 ft

half of wells 120–215 ft

Median static water level

70 ft

1,239 measurements

Median tested yield

20 gpm

1,233 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in Helena Valley Northwest?

Of 1,257 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 147 feet. Half were drilled between 120 and 215 feet; one in ten went deeper than 340 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 90 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
1%
50–100 ft
12%
100–200 ft
56%
200–300 ft
17%
300–500 ft
11%
500 ft and deeper
2%

Static water level

70 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 46 and 97 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

20 gpm

median tested yield · half between 15 and 30 gpm

2% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 59% 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 Northwest

209 wells have been completed here since 2016, 10 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed September 15, 2026. Records run back to 1936.

What the wells are for

  • Domestic1,161
  • Public Water Supply38
  • Stockwater32
  • Irrigation23
  • Monitoring16

How they were drilled

  • Rotary783
  • Air Rotary181
  • Cable172
  • Forward Rotary29

Drillers filing well logs in Helena Valley Northwest

  • H & L Drilling Inc80 since 2016 · 2026
  • A-10 Drilling60 since 2016 · 2026
  • Western Water Wells27 since 2016 · 2026
  • Aaaa Water Well Drilling Inc26 since 2016 · 2025
  • Lindsay Drilling Co8 since 2016 · 2026
  • Lindsay Drilling Co Inc7 since 2016 · 2018
  • Treasure State Drilling131 all-time · 2008
  • Welch100 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 Helena Valley Northwest

Montana DNRC lists 1,118 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 1,108 groundwater and 10 surface water, 946 of them active. The median priority date is 2002, and the oldest claim dates to 1869.

Types of right

  • Ground Water Certificate901
  • Provisional Permit169
  • Statement Of Claim26
  • Exempt Notice20
  • 62-73 Ground Water Record2

Purposes

  • Domestic402
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden362
  • Domestic; Stock54
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden; Stock53
  • Lawn And Garden; Domestic34

DNRC basins

  • 41I1,118

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 Northwest 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.

  • Spokane Shale109 wells · 53% · median 135 ft
  • Alluvium (quaternary)44 wells · 22% · median 100 ft
  • Belt Supergroup18 wells · 9% · median 205 ft
  • Greyson Shale11 wells · 5% · median 120 ft
  • Ravalli Group9 wells · 4% · median 143 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 Northwest

Petroleum releases

5

0 open · 5 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

3

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.