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Montana water data · Town in Gallatin County

West Yellowstone: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in West Yellowstone: 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 454 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (place boundary)

Wells on record

264

290.9 per sq mi

Median well depth

117 ft

half of wells 108–131 ft

Median static water level

40 ft

167 measurements

Median tested yield

20 gpm

206 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in West Yellowstone?

Of 218 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 117 feet. Half were drilled between 108 and 131 feet; one in ten went deeper than 145 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 55 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
5%
50–100 ft
10%
100–200 ft
83%
200–300 ft
1%
300–500 ft
0%
500 ft and deeper
0%

Static water level

40 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 38 and 43 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 15 and 30 gpm

1% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 68% 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 Yellowstone

6 wells have been completed here since 2016. The newest log on file was completed September 25, 2019. Records run back to 1930.

What the wells are for

  • Domestic104
  • Public Water Supply88
  • Unused43
  • Monitoring26
  • Commercial12

How they were drilled

  • Churn54
  • Rotary35
  • Cable19
  • Hollowstem Auger11

Drillers filing well logs in West Yellowstone

  • Wiley Drilling7 since 2016 · 2025
  • Okeefe Drilling Co5 since 2016 · 2019
  • Van Dyken Drilling Inc22 all-time · 2009
  • Lindsay Drilling Co Inc16 all-time · 1978
  • Hillman Drilling9 all-time · 1985
  • Potts Drilling Inc5 all-time · 1975
  • Haz Tech Drilling Inc4 all-time · 2014
  • Maxim Technologies3 all-time · 2001

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 Yellowstone

Montana DNRC lists 140 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 139 groundwater and 1 surface water, 121 of them active. The median priority date is 1960, and the oldest claim dates to 1872.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim84
  • Ground Water Certificate48
  • Reserved Claim3
  • Provisional Permit3
  • Exempt Notice2

Purposes

  • Commercial72
  • Domestic47
  • Municipal7
  • Commercial; Domestic6
  • Multiple Domestic3

DNRC basins

  • 41F139
  • 41H1

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 Yellowstone 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 (pleistocene)91 wells · 94% · median 120 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 Yellowstone

Petroleum releases

20

3 open · 17 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

30

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.