Montana water data · Community in Yellowstone County
Shepherd: well depth, groundwater and water rights
What the public record says about water in Shepherd: 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 270 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (place boundary)
Wells on record
119
53.5 per sq mi
Median well depth
26 ft
half of wells 23–30 ft
Median static water level
10 ft
107 measurements
Median tested yield
20 gpm
104 pump tests
Well depth
How deep are wells in Shepherd?
Of 113 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 26 feet. Half were drilled between 23 and 30 feet; one in ten went deeper than 30 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 20 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
10 ft
median depth to water at rest · half between 8 and 14 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
20 gpm
median tested yield · half between 15 and 22 gpm
3% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 61% 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 Shepherd
5 wells have been completed here since 2016. The newest log on file was completed September 22, 2020. Records run back to 1943.
What the wells are for
- Domestic76
- Irrigation15
- Stockwater12
- Monitoring8
- Public Water Supply6
How they were drilled
- Forward Rotary44
- Rotary25
- Cable21
- Cable Tool2
Drillers filing well logs in Shepherd
- American Drilling & Supply3 since 2016 · 2020
- Mayes Drilling Inc1 since 2016 · 2016
- Digger Drilling38 all-time · 1986
- Billings Drilling6 all-time · 1986
- Vidic Drilling Inc4 all-time · 1992
- Hansen Environmental Drilling3 all-time · 2001
- Gary Mayes Drilling Inc3 all-time · 2010
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 Shepherd
Montana DNRC lists 145 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 127 groundwater and 18 surface water, 143 of them active. The median priority date is 1981, and the oldest claim dates to 1868.
Types of right
- Ground Water Certificate84
- Statement Of Claim59
- Provisional Permit2
Purposes
- Domestic50
- Stock49
- Domestic; Lawn And Garden15
- Domestic; Stock8
- Lawn And Garden7
DNRC basins
- 43Q145
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 Shepherd 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.
- Terrace Deposits (pleistocene)56 wells · 55% · median 28 ft
- Alluvium (pleistocene)41 wells · 41% · median 25 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 Shepherd
Petroleum releases
3
1 open · 2 resolved
Superfund program sites
0
none on the National Priorities List
Registered tank facilities
3
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 2012. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.