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Montana water data · County

Roosevelt County: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in Roosevelt 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 7,137 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA SEMS, EPA UST Finder

Wells on record

4,037

3,694 with recorded depth

Median well depth

60 ft

half of wells 30–115 ft

Median static water level

31 ft

1,882 measurements

Median tested yield

10 gpm

1,765 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in Roosevelt County?

Of 3,694 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 60 feet. Half were drilled between 30 and 115 feet; one in ten went deeper than 200 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 18 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
43%
50–100 ft
26%
100–200 ft
21%
200–300 ft
6%
300–500 ft
3%
500 ft and deeper
1%

Static water level

31 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 19 and 72 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 6 and 20 gpm

11% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 27% 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 Roosevelt County

205 wells have been completed here since 2016, 5 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed July 17, 2026. Records run back to 1906.

What the wells are for

  • Domestic1,408
  • Stockwater1,190
  • Monitoring1,021
  • Unused285
  • Irrigation102

How they were drilled

  • Rotary974
  • Forward Rotary212
  • Cable156
  • Solid Stem Auger131

Drillers filing well logs in Roosevelt County

  • Montana Salinity Control Association76 since 2016 · 2021
  • Yellow Jacket Drilling Services Llc24 since 2016 · 2024
  • Agri Industries Inc17 since 2016 · 2022
  • Hansen Environmental Drilling17 since 2016 · 2024
  • Sharp Drilling Inc12 since 2016 · 2022
  • West Central Environmental Consultants9 since 2016 · 2023
  • Hansen Drilling6 since 2016 · 2016
  • Badger Drilling & Well Service Llc6 since 2016 · 2026

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 Roosevelt County

Montana DNRC lists 2,839 water rights in the county: 1,523 groundwater and 1,316 surface water, 2,514 of them active. The median priority date is 1957, and the oldest claim dates to 1855.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim1,775
  • Ground Water Certificate654
  • Reserved Claim129
  • Provisional Permit127
  • Stockwater Permit76

Purposes

  • Stock1,603
  • Domestic485
  • Irrigation356
  • Domestic; Stock105
  • Industrial49

DNRC basins

  • 40S1,676
  • 40R679
  • 40Q484

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 Roosevelt 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.

  • Fort Union Formation400 wells · 26% · median 133 ft
  • Alluvium (quaternary)374 wells · 25% · median 50 ft
  • Fox Hills-hell Creek Aquifer152 wells · 10% · median 160 ft
  • Hell Creek Formation143 wells · 9% · median 140 ft
  • Glacial Outwash (pleistocene)98 wells · 6% · median 50 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 Roosevelt County

Petroleum releases

72

14 open · 58 resolved

Superfund program sites

1

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

188

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 2021. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.