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Montana water data · Community in Gallatin County

Willow Creek: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in Willow Creek: 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 314 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, EPA UST Finder, US Census (place boundary)

Wells on record

144

52.8 per sq mi

Median well depth

38 ft

half of wells 31–45 ft

Median static water level

13 ft

132 measurements

Median tested yield

30 gpm

125 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in Willow Creek?

Of 135 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 38 feet. Half were drilled between 31 and 45 feet; one in ten went deeper than 79 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 27 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
78%
50–100 ft
13%
100–200 ft
9%
200–300 ft
0%
300–500 ft
0%
500 ft and deeper
0%

Static water level

13 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 9 and 18 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

30 gpm

median tested yield · half between 20 and 50 gpm

1% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 90% 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 Willow Creek

18 wells have been completed here since 2016, 1 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed April 8, 2026. Records run back to 1895.

What the wells are for

  • Domestic118
  • Stockwater17
  • Irrigation10
  • Monitoring2
  • Public Water Supply2

How they were drilled

  • Rotary68
  • Cable14
  • Forward Rotary11
  • Churn4

Drillers filing well logs in Willow Creek

  • Red Tiger Drilling7 since 2016 · 2026
  • Bridger Drilling Inc6 since 2016 · 2025
  • Van Dyken Drilling Inc2 since 2016 · 2019
  • Potts Drilling Inc1 since 2016 · 2024
  • Hulbert Drilling8 all-time · 1979
  • Red Tiger Drilling Inc5 all-time · 2012
  • Hillman Drilling5 all-time · 1983

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 Willow Creek

Montana DNRC lists 168 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 114 groundwater and 54 surface water, 159 of them active. The median priority date is 1958, and the oldest claim dates to 1864.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim89
  • Ground Water Certificate69
  • Exempt Notice9
  • Water Reservation1

Purposes

  • Domestic59
  • Irrigation45
  • Stock23
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden12
  • Domestic; Stock7

DNRC basins

  • 41G161
  • 41H5
  • 41F2

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 Willow Creek 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.

  • Climbing Arrow Formation (of Bozeman Group)6 wells · 75% · median 51 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 Willow Creek

Petroleum releases

0

0 open · 0 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

2

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.