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Montana water data · County

Hill County: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in Hill 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 8,856 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA SEMS, EPA UST Finder

Wells on record

3,538

3,137 with recorded depth

Median well depth

90 ft

half of wells 35–159 ft

Median static water level

30 ft

2,485 measurements

Median tested yield

12 gpm

2,394 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in Hill County?

Of 3,137 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 90 feet. Half were drilled between 35 and 159 feet; one in ten went deeper than 225 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 20 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
33%
50–100 ft
20%
100–200 ft
31%
200–300 ft
10%
300–500 ft
4%
500 ft and deeper
2%

Static water level

30 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 13 and 73 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

12 gpm

median tested yield · half between 7 and 22 gpm

14% 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 Hill County

191 wells have been completed here since 2016, 3 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed April 3, 2026. Records run back to 1885.

What the wells are for

  • Domestic1,888
  • Stockwater910
  • Monitoring648
  • Unused126
  • Irrigation94

How they were drilled

  • Cable698
  • Rotary505
  • Unknown261
  • Hollow Stem Auger168

Drillers filing well logs in Hill County

  • Hi-line Drilling Inc83 since 2016 · 2025
  • Montana Salinity Control Association56 since 2016 · 2025
  • Jacobson Drilling21 since 2016 · 2025
  • Boland Drilling10 since 2016 · 2022
  • Thomas, Dean, And Hoskins, Inc.10 since 2016 · 2025
  • Water & Environmental Technologies6 since 2016 · 2023
  • Aquasource Drilling Llc6 since 2016 · 2026
  • West Central Environmental Consultants4 since 2016 · 2024

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 Hill County

Montana DNRC lists 5,045 water rights in the county: 2,075 groundwater and 2,970 surface water, 4,515 of them active. The median priority date is 1953, and the oldest claim dates to 1880.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim3,600
  • Ground Water Certificate1,034
  • Provisional Permit173
  • Stockwater Permit130
  • Exempt Notice64

Purposes

  • Stock2,866
  • Domestic630
  • Irrigation551
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden224
  • Multiple Domestic128

DNRC basins

  • 40J2,958
  • 40F685
  • 40G645
  • 40H516
  • 41P197

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 Hill 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.

  • Judith River Formation (of Montana Group)131 wells · 60% · median 180 ft
  • Alluvium (quaternary)26 wells · 12% · median 49 ft
  • Glacial Drift15 wells · 7% · median 39 ft
  • Alluvium (pleistocene)9 wells · 4% · median 170 ft
  • Eagle Sandstone9 wells · 4% · median 1,030 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 Hill County

Petroleum releases

118

25 open · 93 resolved

Superfund program sites

1

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

154

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.