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Montana water data · Community in Lincoln County

West Kootenai: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in West Kootenai: 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 496 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, EPA UST Finder, US Census (place boundary)

Wells on record

211

13.1 per sq mi

Median well depth

237 ft

half of wells 160–335 ft

Median static water level

75 ft

198 measurements

Median tested yield

25 gpm

207 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in West Kootenai?

Of 209 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 237 feet. Half were drilled between 160 and 335 feet; one in ten went deeper than 420 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 119 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
0%
50–100 ft
4%
100–200 ft
35%
200–300 ft
28%
300–500 ft
29%
500 ft and deeper
4%

Static water level

75 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 43 and 110 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

25 gpm

median tested yield · half between 16 and 30 gpm

1% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 70% 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 West Kootenai

45 wells have been completed here since 2016, 3 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed June 10, 2026. Records run back to 1933.

What the wells are for

  • Domestic199
  • Public Water Supply4
  • Stockwater3
  • Fire Protection1
  • Commercial1

How they were drilled

  • Rotary167
  • Air Rotary26
  • Forward Rotary10
  • Unknown2

Drillers filing well logs in West Kootenai

  • Post Pump And Drilling Llc23 since 2016 · 2021
  • Davis Brothers Drilling9 since 2016 · 2026
  • Joe Liss Water Wells, Inc.5 since 2016 · 2017
  • Post Pump & Drilling Llc4 since 2016 · 2023
  • Certified Well And Pump1 since 2016 · 2021
  • Joe Liss Drilling31 all-time · 2011
  • Stinger Well Drilling29 all-time · 1991
  • Joe Liss Water Wells,inc.18 all-time · 2012

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 West Kootenai

Montana DNRC lists 284 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 204 groundwater and 80 surface water, 267 of them active. The median priority date is 1993, and the oldest claim dates to 1880.

Types of right

  • Ground Water Certificate195
  • Statement Of Claim46
  • Provisional Permit40
  • Exempt Notice3

Purposes

  • Domestic92
  • Irrigation53
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden43
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden; Stock20
  • Domestic; Stock12

DNRC basins

  • 76D284

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 West Kootenai 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.

  • Belt Supergroup117 wells · 70% · median 285 ft
  • Glacial Drift33 wells · 20% · median 120 ft
  • Ravalli Group15 wells · 9% · median 204 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 West Kootenai

Petroleum releases

0

0 open · 0 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

1

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