Montana water data · Community in Jefferson County
Jefferson City: well depth, groundwater and water rights
What the public record says about water in Jefferson City: 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 652 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, EPA UST Finder, US Census (place boundary)
Wells on record
335
14.4 per sq mi
Median well depth
220 ft
half of wells 140–309 ft
Median static water level
40 ft
312 measurements
Median tested yield
20 gpm
305 pump tests
Well depth
How deep are wells in Jefferson City?
Of 314 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 220 feet. Half were drilled between 140 and 309 feet; one in ten went deeper than 436 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 80 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
40 ft
median depth to water at rest · half between 23 and 67 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 12 and 30 gpm
6% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 56% 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 Jefferson City
100 wells have been completed here since 2016, 1 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed October 4, 2025. Records run back to 1905.
What the wells are for
- Domestic307
- Monitoring15
- Stockwater11
- Public Water Supply3
- Unused3
How they were drilled
- Rotary218
- Air Rotary60
- Cable8
- Churn6
Drillers filing well logs in Jefferson City
- H & L Drilling Inc54 since 2016 · 2024
- A-10 Drilling26 since 2016 · 2025
- Lindsay Drilling Co Inc9 since 2016 · 2024
- Aaaa Water Well Drilling Inc7 since 2016 · 2023
- Lindsay Drilling Co1 since 2016 · 2025
- Treasure State Drilling28 all-time · 2008
- Lindsay Drilling21 all-time · 1989
- Murrays Well Service10 all-time · 2004
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 Jefferson City
Montana DNRC lists 316 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 260 groundwater and 56 surface water, 287 of them active. The median priority date is 1998, and the oldest claim dates to 1860.
Types of right
- Ground Water Certificate231
- Statement Of Claim78
- Exempt Notice3
- Provisional Permit2
- Reserved Claim1
Purposes
- Domestic122
- Domestic; Lawn And Garden61
- Stock36
- Irrigation14
- Domestic; Stock13
DNRC basins
- 41I316
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 Jefferson City 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.
- Boulder Batholith10 wells · 71% · median 203 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 Jefferson City
Petroleum releases
0
0 open · 0 resolved
Superfund program sites
0
none on the National Priorities List
Registered tank facilities
1
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. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.