Montana water data · County
Phillips County: well depth, groundwater and water rights
What the public record says about water in Phillips 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 19,462 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder
Wells on record
2,451
2,348 with recorded depth
Median well depth
75 ft
half of wells 38–206 ft
Median static water level
30 ft
1,963 measurements
Median tested yield
11 gpm
1,915 pump tests
Well depth
How deep are wells in Phillips County?
Of 2,348 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 75 feet. Half were drilled between 38 and 206 feet; one in ten went deeper than 470 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 24 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
30 ft
median depth to water at rest · half between 17 and 80 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
11 gpm
median tested yield · half between 7 and 20 gpm
11% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 32% 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 Phillips County
184 wells have been completed here since 2016, 10 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed July 26, 2026. Records run back to 1890.
What the wells are for
- Stockwater1,414
- Domestic1,025
- Monitoring385
- Irrigation67
- Public Water Supply43
How they were drilled
- Rotary549
- Hollowstem Auger131
- Cable123
- Churn83
Drillers filing well logs in Phillips County
- Haz Tech Drilling Inc52 since 2016 · 2019
- Petrie Pump & Drilling39 since 2016 · 2023
- Jacobson Drilling32 since 2016 · 2026
- Hansen Environmental Drilling17 since 2016 · 2022
- Aquasource Drilling Llc12 since 2016 · 2025
- Hansen Drilling8 since 2016 · 2016
- Hickel Drilling5 since 2016 · 2019
- Eaton Drilling Co4 since 2016 · 2017
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 Phillips County
Montana DNRC lists 16,906 water rights in the county: 2,220 groundwater and 14,686 surface water, 15,716 of them active. The median priority date is 1940, and the oldest claim dates to 1855.
Types of right
- Statement Of Claim13,816
- Stockwater Permit788
- Ground Water Certificate705
- Provisional Permit687
- Reserved Claim612
Purposes
- Stock9,964
- Wildlife4,187
- Irrigation1,073
- Domestic536
- Stock; Wildlife/waterfowl309
DNRC basins
- 40J5,471
- 40K4,331
- 40M3,602
- 40EJ1,471
- 40E1,291
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 Phillips 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.
- Judith River Formation (of Montana Group)399 wells · 38% · median 305 ft
- Alluvium (quaternary)334 wells · 32% · median 52 ft
- Glacial Drift176 wells · 17% · median 30 ft
- Alluvium (pleistocene)74 wells · 7% · median 67 ft
- Glacial Outwash (pleistocene)9 wells · 1% · median 64 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 Phillips County
Petroleum releases
43
17 open · 26 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 2024. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.