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Montana water data · City in Broadwater County

Townsend: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in Townsend: 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 254 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (place boundary)

Wells on record

153

99.9 per sq mi

Median well depth

25 ft

half of wells 17–51 ft

Median static water level

9 ft

95 measurements

Median tested yield

40 gpm

66 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in Townsend?

Of 107 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 25 feet. Half were drilled between 17 and 51 feet; one in ten went deeper than 84 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 16 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
25%
100–200 ft
7%
200–300 ft
1%
300–500 ft
1%
500 ft and deeper
0%

Static water level

9 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 7 and 10 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

40 gpm

median tested yield · half between 30 and 71 gpm

0% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 89% 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 Townsend

6 wells have been completed here since 2016. The newest log on file was completed November 2, 2023. Records run back to 1860.

What the wells are for

  • Monitoring75
  • Domestic48
  • Irrigation23
  • Stockwater8
  • Public Water Supply4

How they were drilled

  • Rotary31
  • Hollow Stem Auger14
  • Hollowstem Auger11
  • Hsa8

Drillers filing well logs in Townsend

  • Okeefe Drilling Co4 since 2016 · 2023
  • A-10 Drilling1 since 2016 · 2021
  • H & L Drilling Inc26 all-time · 2012
  • Maxim Technologies10 all-time · 2002
  • Rti/okeefe8 all-time · 1995
  • Sk Geotechnical Co6 all-time · 2013
  • Lindsay Drilling5 all-time · 1987
  • Chris Boland Drilling Co4 all-time · 2011

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 Townsend

Montana DNRC lists 51 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 43 groundwater and 8 surface water, 48 of them active. The median priority date is 1977, and the oldest claim dates to 1900.

Types of right

  • Ground Water Certificate28
  • Statement Of Claim21
  • Exempt Notice1
  • Provisional Permit1

Purposes

  • Domestic12
  • Lawn And Garden8
  • Fish And Wildlife6
  • Irrigation5
  • Municipal4

DNRC basins

  • 41I51

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 Townsend 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)27 wells · 79% · median 22 ft
  • Sediments (tertiary)7 wells · 21% · median 60 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 Townsend

Petroleum releases

25

4 open · 21 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

25

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 2019. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.