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Montana water data · City in Richland County

Sidney: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in Sidney: 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 415 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (place boundary)

Wells on record

218

66.3 per sq mi

Median well depth

35 ft

half of wells 21–84 ft

Median static water level

15 ft

135 measurements

Median tested yield

20 gpm

151 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in Sidney?

Of 210 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 35 feet. Half were drilled between 21 and 84 feet; one in ten went deeper than 148 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
65%
50–100 ft
11%
100–200 ft
16%
200–300 ft
3%
300–500 ft
1%
500 ft and deeper
3%

Static water level

15 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 10 and 26 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 11 and 55 gpm

4% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 53% 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 Sidney

17 wells have been completed here since 2016. The newest log on file was completed August 15, 2025. Records run back to 1910.

What the wells are for

  • Domestic100
  • Monitoring47
  • Public Water Supply41
  • Stockwater18
  • Commercial12

How they were drilled

  • Rotary52
  • Cable30
  • Hollowstem Auger19
  • Forward Rotary14

Drillers filing well logs in Sidney

  • Raimonde Drilling Corporation5 since 2016 · 2016
  • Sharp Drilling Inc4 since 2016 · 2017
  • Portage, Inc.3 since 2016 · 2016
  • Thermal Drill Inc2 since 2016 · 2023
  • Boyce Drilling25 all-time · 2005
  • Hansen Environmental Drilling21 all-time · 2009
  • Gendron19 all-time · 1989
  • Petersen10 all-time · 1980

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 Sidney

Montana DNRC lists 98 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 98 groundwater and 0 surface water, 91 of them active. The median priority date is 1985, and the oldest claim dates to 1938.

Types of right

  • Ground Water Certificate81
  • Statement Of Claim14
  • Provisional Permit3

Purposes

  • Domestic44
  • Commercial15
  • Lawn And Garden13
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden8
  • Municipal7

DNRC basins

  • 42M98

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 Sidney 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)63 wells · 56% · median 35 ft
  • Alluvium (quaternary)20 wells · 18% · median 74 ft
  • Fort Union Formation10 wells · 9% · median 117 ft
  • Tongue River Member (of Ft Union Fm.)8 wells · 7% · median 110 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 Sidney

Petroleum releases

29

6 open · 23 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

70

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.