Montana water data · County

Mccone County: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in Mccone 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 6,397 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder

Wells on record

1,903

1,849 with recorded depth

Median well depth

119 ft

half of wells 62–195 ft

Median static water level

51 ft

1,658 measurements

Median tested yield

10 gpm

1,643 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in Mccone County?

Of 1,849 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 119 feet. Half were drilled between 62 and 195 feet; one in ten went deeper than 295 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 35 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
18%
50–100 ft
23%
100–200 ft
34%
200–300 ft
15%
300–500 ft
7%
500 ft and deeper
3%

Static water level

51 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 26 and 100 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

10 gpm

median tested yield · half between 5 and 15 gpm

16% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 17% 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 Mccone County

247 wells have been completed here since 2016, 11 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed August 12, 2026. Records run back to 1900.

What the wells are for

  • Stockwater1,286
  • Domestic591
  • Monitoring100
  • Other49
  • Irrigation31

How they were drilled

  • Rotary510
  • Cable152
  • Forward Rotary134
  • Hollowstem Auger62

Drillers filing well logs in Mccone County

  • Wahl Construction45 since 2016 · 2025
  • West Central Environmental Consultants39 since 2016 · 2022
  • Askin Drilling35 since 2016 · 2026
  • Higgins Drilling Company21 since 2016 · 2025
  • H & H Drilling18 since 2016 · 2023
  • Sharp Drilling Inc16 since 2016 · 2025
  • Haz Tech Drilling Inc12 since 2016 · 2018
  • Pirtz Waterworx Llc11 since 2016 · 2025

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 Mccone County

Montana DNRC lists 4,444 water rights in the county: 1,912 groundwater and 2,532 surface water, 4,152 of them active. The median priority date is 1960, and the oldest claim dates to 1864.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim3,047
  • Ground Water Certificate988
  • Provisional Permit201
  • Stockwater Permit122
  • Compact26

Purposes

  • Stock3,105
  • Irrigation402
  • Domestic343
  • Wildlife203
  • Domestic; Stock129

DNRC basins

  • 40P1,887
  • 40S1,383
  • 40E1,132
  • 42M23
  • 40D19

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 Mccone 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.

  • Fox Hills-hell Creek Aquifer245 wells · 37% · median 220 ft
  • Tongue River Member (of Ft Union Fm.)115 wells · 17% · median 105 ft
  • Alluvium (quaternary)86 wells · 13% · median 41 ft
  • Fort Union Formation71 wells · 11% · median 135 ft
  • Tullock Member (of Ft Union Fm.)46 wells · 7% · median 175 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 Mccone County

Petroleum releases

20

6 open · 14 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

30

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.