Montana WaterReport
Check a property

Montana water data · Community in Broadwater County

Winston: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in Winston: 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 228 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (place boundary)

Wells on record

102

19.5 per sq mi

Median well depth

155 ft

half of wells 79–210 ft

Median static water level

32 ft

94 measurements

Median tested yield

8 gpm

87 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in Winston?

Of 101 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 155 feet. Half were drilled between 79 and 210 feet; one in ten went deeper than 300 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
7%
50–100 ft
29%
100–200 ft
33%
200–300 ft
21%
300–500 ft
9%
500 ft and deeper
2%

Static water level

32 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 19 and 47 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

8 gpm

median tested yield · half between 6 and 14 gpm

10% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 17% 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 Winston

10 wells have been completed here since 2016. The newest log on file was completed June 3, 2022. Records run back to 1890.

What the wells are for

  • Domestic85
  • Stockwater12
  • Monitoring10
  • Public Water Supply3
  • Test Well2

How they were drilled

  • Rotary62
  • Forward Rotary10
  • Rotary Air6
  • Air Rotary4

Drillers filing well logs in Winston

  • A-10 Drilling7 since 2016 · 2022
  • H & L Drilling Inc2 since 2016 · 2020
  • Treasure State Drilling14 all-time · 2007
  • Lindsay Drilling Co Inc6 all-time · 2007
  • Potts Drilling Inc5 all-time · 1987
  • Unknown5 all-time · 1963
  • Okeefe Drilling Co3 all-time · 1973

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 Winston

Montana DNRC lists 119 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 88 groundwater and 31 surface water, 113 of them active. The median priority date is 1985, and the oldest claim dates to 1866.

Types of right

  • Ground Water Certificate62
  • Statement Of Claim52
  • Exempt Notice3
  • Provisional Permit1
  • Water Reservation1

Purposes

  • Domestic38
  • Irrigation28
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden23
  • Stock14
  • Industrial3

DNRC basins

  • 41I119

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 Winston 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.

  • Sediments (tertiary)8 wells · 73% · median 73 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 Winston

Petroleum releases

2

1 open · 1 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

5

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 2021. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.