Montana water data · County
Sheridan County: well depth, groundwater and water rights
What the public record says about water in Sheridan 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 5,474 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder
Wells on record
2,490
2,300 with recorded depth
Median well depth
99 ft
half of wells 41–165 ft
Median static water level
39 ft
1,612 measurements
Median tested yield
10 gpm
1,502 pump tests
Well depth
How deep are wells in Sheridan County?
Of 2,300 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 99 feet. Half were drilled between 41 and 165 feet; one in ten went deeper than 246 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
39 ft
median depth to water at rest · half between 20 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
10 gpm
median tested yield · half between 5 and 20 gpm
14% 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 Sheridan County
102 wells have been completed here since 2016, 2 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed November 13, 2025. Records run back to 1902.
What the wells are for
- Stockwater815
- Domestic803
- Monitoring518
- Irrigation207
- Test Well106
How they were drilled
- Rotary939
- Forward Rotary250
- Solid Stem Auger66
- Hollowstem Auger58
Drillers filing well logs in Sheridan County
- Agri Industries Inc31 since 2016 · 2022
- Dls Contracting13 since 2016 · 2018
- S & S Drilling11 since 2016 · 2024
- Sk Geotechnical Co10 since 2016 · 2018
- Montana Salinity Control Association7 since 2016 · 2024
- West Central Environmental Consultants5 since 2016 · 2024
- Aaqua Drilling Inc4 since 2016 · 2024
- Haz Tech Drilling Inc3 since 2016 · 2018
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 Sheridan County
Montana DNRC lists 2,850 water rights in the county: 1,574 groundwater and 1,276 surface water, 2,615 of them active. The median priority date is 1960, and the oldest claim dates to 1888.
Types of right
- Statement Of Claim1,519
- Ground Water Certificate792
- Provisional Permit209
- Reserved Claim156
- Stockwater Permit95
Purposes
- Stock1,551
- Domestic456
- Irrigation304
- Domestic; Stock87
- Multiple Domestic72
DNRC basins
- 40R2,848
- 43O2
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 Sheridan 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 Formation446 wells · 36% · median 165 ft
- Glacial Outwash (pleistocene)339 wells · 27% · median 81 ft
- Glacial Drift89 wells · 7% · median 44 ft
- Glacial Till87 wells · 7% · median 28 ft
- Alluvium (pleistocene)86 wells · 7% · median 200 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 Sheridan County
Petroleum releases
45
5 open · 40 resolved
Superfund program sites
0
none on the National Priorities List
Registered tank facilities
89
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 2023. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.