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Montana water data · City in Lincoln County

Libby: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in Libby: 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 373 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA SEMS, EPA UST Finder, US Census (place boundary)

Wells on record

206

111.8 per sq mi

Median well depth

49 ft

half of wells 32–66 ft

Median static water level

20 ft

168 measurements

Median tested yield

15 gpm

139 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in Libby?

Of 192 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 49 feet. Half were drilled between 32 and 66 feet; one in ten went deeper than 80 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 28 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
51%
50–100 ft
42%
100–200 ft
5%
200–300 ft
1%
300–500 ft
1%
500 ft and deeper
0%

Static water level

20 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 15 and 31 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 5 and 25 gpm

17% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 38% 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 Libby

34 wells have been completed here since 2016. The newest log on file was completed May 1, 2025. Records run back to 1923.

What the wells are for

  • Monitoring102
  • Domestic68
  • Irrigation14
  • Other5
  • Public Water Supply2

How they were drilled

  • Sonic57
  • Rotary39
  • Cable35
  • Air Rotary9

Drillers filing well logs in Libby

  • Environmental West Exploration22 since 2016 · 2021
  • North West Drilling7 since 2016 · 2025
  • Universal Drilling3 since 2016 · 2024
  • Environmental West22 all-time · 2015
  • Gold Brick16 all-time · 1987
  • Okeefe Drilling Co10 all-time · 2005
  • B And B Drilling10 all-time · 1989
  • Boland Drilling4 all-time · 2009

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 Libby

Montana DNRC lists 71 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 71 groundwater and 0 surface water, 58 of them active. The median priority date is 1982, and the oldest claim dates to 1928.

Types of right

  • Ground Water Certificate63
  • Statement Of Claim6
  • Exempt Notice2

Purposes

  • Domestic37
  • Lawn And Garden16
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden7
  • Irrigation4
  • Commercial3

DNRC basins

  • 76D71

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 Libby 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 (holocene)43 wells · 66% · median 40 ft
  • Glacial Drift16 wells · 25% · median 73 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 Libby

Petroleum releases

54

1 open · 53 resolved

Superfund program sites

3

1 on or proposed for the NPL

Registered tank facilities

39

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 2022. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.