Montana water data · Town in Prairie County

Terry: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in Terry: 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 294 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (place boundary)

Wells on record

130

166.4 per sq mi

Median well depth

28 ft

half of wells 23–48 ft

Median static water level

13 ft

88 measurements

Median tested yield

20 gpm

89 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in Terry?

Of 126 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 28 feet. Half were drilled between 23 and 48 feet; one in ten went deeper than 741 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
75%
50–100 ft
0%
100–200 ft
0%
200–300 ft
0%
300–500 ft
0%
500 ft and deeper
25%

Static water level

13 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 10 and 17 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 14 and 30 gpm

0% 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 Terry

9 wells have been completed here since 2016. The newest log on file was completed April 23, 2024. Records run back to 1906.

What the wells are for

  • Domestic64
  • Monitoring29
  • Public Water Supply18
  • Irrigation11
  • Stockwater5

How they were drilled

  • Rotary23
  • Cable Tool16
  • Driven13
  • Hollowstem Auger13

Drillers filing well logs in Terry

  • West Central Environmental Consultants5 since 2016 · 2024
  • Haz Tech Drilling Inc2 since 2016 · 2016
  • Higgins Drilling Company2 since 2016 · 2020
  • Bond52 all-time · 1989
  • Johnson19 all-time · 2004
  • Hansen Environmental Drilling8 all-time · 2001
  • Maxim Technologies5 all-time · 1999
  • Askin Drilling4 all-time · 2014

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 Terry

Montana DNRC lists 143 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 143 groundwater and 0 surface water, 134 of them active. The median priority date is 1973, and the oldest claim dates to 1884.

Types of right

  • Ground Water Certificate70
  • Statement Of Claim68
  • Exempt Notice5

Purposes

  • Domestic61
  • Commercial28
  • Lawn And Garden15
  • Multiple Domestic10
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden9

DNRC basins

  • 42M143

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 Terry 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.

  • Alluvium (quaternary)53 wells · 60% · median 28 ft
  • Colgate Sandstone Member (of Fox Hills Fm.)20 wells · 23% · median 738 ft
  • Fox Hills-hell Creek Aquifer12 wells · 14% · median 741 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 Terry

Petroleum releases

14

5 open · 9 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

7

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 2013. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.