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Montana water data · County

Judith Basin County: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in Judith Basin 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 7,864 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder

Wells on record

1,617

1,535 with recorded depth

Median well depth

100 ft

half of wells 48–250 ft

Median static water level

20 ft

1,157 measurements

Median tested yield

15 gpm

1,384 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in Judith Basin County?

Of 1,535 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 100 feet. Half were drilled between 48 and 250 feet; one in ten went deeper than 680 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
26%
50–100 ft
19%
100–200 ft
24%
200–300 ft
9%
300–500 ft
8%
500 ft and deeper
15%

Static water level

20 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 10 and 40 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

15 gpm

median tested yield · half between 9 and 30 gpm

10% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 45% 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 Judith Basin County

170 wells have been completed here since 2016, 15 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed July 12, 2026. Records run back to 1882.

What the wells are for

  • Stockwater812
  • Domestic761
  • Irrigation132
  • Monitoring79
  • Public Water Supply38

How they were drilled

  • Rotary684
  • Forward Rotary177
  • Cable52
  • Unknown41

Drillers filing well logs in Judith Basin County

  • Central Drilling Inc86 since 2016 · 2026
  • Aquasource Drilling Llc21 since 2016 · 2026
  • Singley Drilling11 since 2016 · 2026
  • Haz Tech Drilling Inc10 since 2016 · 2022
  • Montana Salinity Control Association7 since 2016 · 2025
  • Yellow Jacket Drilling Services Llc7 since 2016 · 2024
  • Olympus Technical Services6 since 2016 · 2022
  • Aaaa Water Well Drilling Inc5 since 2016 · 2018

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 Judith Basin County

Montana DNRC lists 6,153 water rights in the county: 2,814 groundwater and 3,339 surface water, 5,360 of them active. The median priority date is 1939, and the oldest claim dates to 1870.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim4,761
  • Ground Water Certificate1,082
  • Provisional Permit121
  • Exempt Notice89
  • Stockwater Permit79

Purposes

  • Stock3,763
  • Irrigation1,137
  • Domestic576
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden93
  • Domestic; Stock89

DNRC basins

  • 41S3,571
  • 41R1,609
  • 41Q969
  • 40A4

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 Judith Basin 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.

  • Kootenai Formation109 wells · 54% · median 813 ft
  • Colorado Shale Or Fm. (of Colorado Group)28 wells · 14% · median 176 ft
  • Madison Group Or Limestone9 wells · 4% · median 550 ft
  • Terrace Deposits (quaternary)8 wells · 4% · median 41 ft
  • Morrison Formation8 wells · 4% · median 285 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 Judith Basin County

Petroleum releases

32

5 open · 27 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

62

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 2023. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.