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Montana water data · County

Sanders County: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in Sanders 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 11,684 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA SEMS, EPA UST Finder

Wells on record

5,015

4,740 with recorded depth

Median well depth

165 ft

half of wells 73–300 ft

Median static water level

54 ft

4,405 measurements

Median tested yield

25 gpm

4,463 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in Sanders County?

Of 4,740 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 165 feet. Half were drilled between 73 and 300 feet; one in ten went deeper than 400 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
15%
100–200 ft
22%
200–300 ft
19%
300–500 ft
21%
500 ft and deeper
5%

Static water level

54 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 20 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

25 gpm

median tested yield · half between 11 and 40 gpm

8% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 62% 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 Sanders County

904 wells have been completed here since 2016, 87 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed September 18, 2026. Records run back to 1883.

What the wells are for

  • Domestic4,183
  • Stockwater418
  • Irrigation345
  • Monitoring164
  • Public Water Supply99

How they were drilled

  • Rotary2,724
  • Forward Rotary455
  • Cable296
  • Churn166

Drillers filing well logs in Sanders County

  • Callison Well Drilling140 since 2016 · 2026
  • North Star Drilling Inc135 since 2016 · 2025
  • Universal Drilling113 since 2016 · 2025
  • North Star Drilling Inc.70 since 2016 · 2026
  • Camp Well Drilling And Pump Service61 since 2016 · 2024
  • Coldwater Drilling And Pumps49 since 2016 · 2026
  • Ace Drilling48 since 2016 · 2025
  • Oh Well Drilling And Pump40 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 Sanders County

Montana DNRC lists 6,484 water rights in the county: 4,849 groundwater and 1,635 surface water, 5,762 of them active. The median priority date is 1981, and the oldest claim dates to 1850.

Types of right

  • Ground Water Certificate3,174
  • Statement Of Claim2,274
  • Provisional Permit337
  • Registration Certificate239
  • Exempt Notice144

Purposes

  • Domestic1,814
  • Stock1,108
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden809
  • Irrigation771
  • Domestic; Stock251

DNRC basins

  • 76N4,556
  • 76L1,833
  • 76M92
  • 76D3

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 Sanders 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.

  • Lonepine Aquifer (little Bitterroot Valley)196 wells · 22% · median 300 ft
  • Glacial Drift119 wells · 13% · median 160 ft
  • Prichard Formation Or Slate116 wells · 13% · median 175 ft
  • Alluvium (pleistocene)99 wells · 11% · median 120 ft
  • Alluvium (holocene)89 wells · 10% · median 32 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 Sanders County

Petroleum releases

67

4 open · 63 resolved

Superfund program sites

2

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

116

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.