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Montana water data · County

Musselshell County: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in Musselshell 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 8,266 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA SEMS, EPA UST Finder

Wells on record

3,706

3,510 with recorded depth

Median well depth

177 ft

half of wells 90–300 ft

Median static water level

60 ft

3,092 measurements

Median tested yield

9 gpm

3,162 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in Musselshell County?

Of 3,510 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 177 feet. Half were drilled between 90 and 300 feet; one in ten went deeper than 450 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
14%
50–100 ft
15%
100–200 ft
27%
200–300 ft
19%
300–500 ft
19%
500 ft and deeper
8%

Static water level

60 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 28 and 131 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

9 gpm

median tested yield · half between 5 and 15 gpm

20% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 21% 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 Musselshell County

386 wells have been completed here since 2016, 14 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed July 27, 2026. Records run back to 1890.

What the wells are for

  • Stockwater1,798
  • Domestic1,717
  • Monitoring392
  • Irrigation93
  • Public Water Supply22

How they were drilled

  • Rotary1,498
  • Forward Rotary483
  • Churn153
  • Cable73

Drillers filing well logs in Musselshell County

  • Vidic Drilling Inc100 since 2016 · 2026
  • American Drilling & Supply63 since 2016 · 2026
  • Vidic Drilling45 since 2016 · 2026
  • Gordon Drilling Inc39 since 2016 · 2020
  • Bertram Drilling Inc28 since 2016 · 2025
  • Haz Tech Drilling Inc24 since 2016 · 2022
  • Montana Salinity Control Association23 since 2016 · 2021
  • Lindsay Drilling Co Inc20 since 2016 · 2019

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 Musselshell County

Montana DNRC lists 4,487 water rights in the county: 3,037 groundwater and 1,450 surface water, 4,101 of them active. The median priority date is 1963, and the oldest claim dates to 1850.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim2,551
  • Ground Water Certificate1,653
  • Exempt Notice119
  • Provisional Permit110
  • Stockwater Permit39

Purposes

  • Stock2,396
  • Domestic783
  • Irrigation444
  • Domestic; Stock234
  • Wildlife128

DNRC basins

  • 40C2,783
  • 40A1,447
  • 43Q217
  • 42KJ39
  • 42K1

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 Musselshell 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.

  • Tongue River Member (of Ft Union Fm.)146 wells · 31% · median 165 ft
  • Fort Union Formation134 wells · 28% · median 210 ft
  • Hell Creek Formation39 wells · 8% · median 254 ft
  • Alluvium (quaternary)32 wells · 7% · median 22 ft
  • Tullock Member (of Ft Union Fm.)24 wells · 5% · median 206 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 Musselshell County

Petroleum releases

25

5 open · 20 resolved

Superfund program sites

2

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

46

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 2014. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.