Montana water data · Town in Gallatin County
Manhattan: well depth, groundwater and water rights
What the public record says about water in Manhattan: 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 174 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (place boundary)
Wells on record
101
57.6 per sq mi
Median well depth
63 ft
half of wells 38–100 ft
Median static water level
21 ft
71 measurements
Median tested yield
41 gpm
70 pump tests
Well depth
How deep are wells in Manhattan?
Of 82 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 63 feet. Half were drilled between 38 and 100 feet; one in ten went deeper than 139 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 23 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
21 ft
median depth to water at rest · half between 11 and 29 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
41 gpm
median tested yield · half between 20 and 74 gpm
3% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 80% 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 Manhattan
15 wells have been completed here since 2016, 1 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed October 31, 2025. Records run back to 1900.
What the wells are for
- Domestic43
- Monitoring38
- Stockwater11
- Irrigation9
- Public Water Supply7
How they were drilled
- Rotary55
- Cable9
- Auger6
- Reverse Rotary2
Drillers filing well logs in Manhattan
- Bridger Drilling Inc7 since 2016 · 2025
- Red Tiger Drilling4 since 2016 · 2023
- Van Dyken Drilling Inc2 since 2016 · 2025
- Okeefe Drilling Co10 all-time · 2014
- Hayes Drilling6 all-time · 2002
- Potts Drilling Inc4 all-time · 1993
- Kevin Haggerty Drilling Inc3 all-time · 2006
- Hulbert Drilling3 all-time · 1973
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 Manhattan
Montana DNRC lists 61 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 60 groundwater and 1 surface water, 35 of them active. The median priority date is 2002, and the oldest claim dates to 1885.
Types of right
- Ground Water Certificate49
- Statement Of Claim10
- Provisional Permit2
Purposes
- Lawn And Garden; Multiple Domestic19
- Lawn And Garden7
- Municipal6
- Irrigation5
- Domestic; Lawn And Garden5
DNRC basins
- 41H61
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 Manhattan 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.
- Sediments (tertiary)8 wells · 73% · median 274 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 Manhattan
Petroleum releases
5
0 open · 5 resolved
Superfund program sites
0
none on the National Priorities List
Registered tank facilities
7
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 1997. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.