Gbound Wateb in Yellowstone and Tseasube Counties Montana
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bar Lyman Wilbnr, Secretary U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY George Otto Smith, Director Water-Supply Paper 599 GBOUND WATEB IN YELLOWSTONE AND TSEASUBE COUNTIES MONTANA BY GEORGE M. HALL AND C. S, HOWARD Prepared in cooperation with the State Engineer; the Department of Chemistry of the Montana State Cortege, Bozeman; and the Water Laboratory of the Montana State Board of Health 'V UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON : 1929 ADDITIONAL COPIES OF THIS PUBLICATION HAT BE PROCURED FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON, D. C. AT 25 CENTS PEE COPY CONTENTS Page ^Preface, by 0. E. Meinzer.___.__.__.... ___ v Introduction_______________________________ __ _._____. I Drainage.. ________________ _ ________________ _______ 3 Physiography, __ ___________________________ ____ 4 Situation and subdivisions.----.------------ _________________ 4 Bull Mountain upland_--______-_---_-_----_-_-___-----__ ___ 4 Plains.._______________________ __________ 6 Yellowstone River valley_-_--________---_____-----___-____--_- 7 Terraces.____________________________________________________ 8 Lake basins___________-_-_---_______-________________________ " 10 Faulted zone_________-_--__ ____-_-__-_-_-___-___-_-_-______. 13 Quality of water___________-__-_______-_-__________--_____________ 15 Rock formations and their water-bearing properties__ _--_-___-____ 28 General section______________-____-__-_________----______-_.__ 28 Quaternary alluvium__.,___---___-__--_-_-__-.------__-__---__-_ 32 Oligocene or Miocene and Pliocene (?) terrace deposits.___________ 33 Fort Union formation__-__-_-_--__-_---_-_--__-_--__---_____-__ 34 Lance formation_____________________________---______________ 36 Lennep sandstone--_-_---_-_--___---___-_--__----_---___--_-_- 37 Bearpaw shale___-_-__--_--_---____-__---_-------_--__-_----_- 37 Judith River formation___-_-___-_-______--____-________-_____- 38 Claggett formation.___________________________________________ 39 Eagle sandstone_____________________________________________ 39 Telegraph Creek formation___-_____--__-____-_-______-___-._-__ 40 Colorado shale______________________________________________ 40 Cloverly formation____________________________________________ 41 Morrison formation____________________.______________________ 42 Sundance formation_________________--________---__-_-_____ 7 __ 42 Chugwater formation__-______-_____---___-___-___________-____ 43 Tensleep, sandstone. _____-----_L__-___-_______-__-________-____ 43 Amsden formation____--_-_-_____-____.______-_-________-_____ 43 Madison limestone--,--.---..--------.---..-.-----..-...,.-... 43 Rock structure in relation to water supplies_____---__--__-______-____ 44 Recommendations for deep drilling....__________________________ 46 Artesian conditions__________________________________________ 46 Water supplies-___________________________________________ 49 Domestic and stock supplies. ______________________ 49 Irrigation supplies.____________________________________ __ 51 Public supplies..-_-__-__--______-____________--___________ 52 Billings. _____________________________________ 52 Laurel.. _____________________________________ 53 Broadview________________________________.____ 54 Hysham___ _ ___ 54 Other towns__-_____________________________ 55 Railroad supplies ___ _____________________ 56 m IV CONTENTS Page Methods of obtaining ground-water supplies.___-_-_----__-_______.___ 56 Springs._____________________________________________________ 56 Wells_, _ _ _ _ 57 Drilled wells._______.___________.__________ 57 Dug wells__--._-__________ ___________________ 58 Bored wells_____________________________________________ 58 Driven wells.____________________________________________ 58 Storage of surface water_________________________._________________ 59 Cisterns __ __________________________________ 59 Tanks for stock water___ _____ _ ____ ______ _ .._,. 60 Storage of ice--_---_-_____________________________________________. &L Ground-water conditions, by townships____________________________,._ 42 Index. ________________ ______.__,_________ 117 ILLUSTRATIONS PLATE 1. A, Southeast front of Eldridge Mesa and adjacent plateau; Page B, Sandstone "rim rock" in sec. 5, T. 5 N., R. 31 E., showing abrupt change in bedding______-____________-______-____ 42 2. A, Contrasting topography of the upper part and the Lebo shale member of the Fort Union formation in sec. 34, T. 5 N., R. 30 E.; B, Eagle sandstone as seen looking northwest from the top of the steep cliff in the NE. M sec. 19, T. 1 S., R. 27 E_ 42 3. Typical escarpment formed by the Tullock member of the Lance formation on West Corral Creek, sec. 33, T. 5 N., R. 36 E__ 42 4. A, Pompeys Pillar, a low butte formed by the sandstone at the base of the Lance formation; B, Conglomerate capping the ridgeinthe SW. M sec. 34, T. 1 N., R. 28 E--_-__--_-___- 42 5. A, Judith River formation exposed in the much dissected area 1^4 miles south of Acton; B, Fault in the southwest corner of sec. 7, T. 2 N., R. 24 E 42 6. -4, B, Ridge or dune, 10 feet high, on northeast side of small Jake southeast of Comanche.________-_--__-__--_-___---_ 42 7. Geologic map of Yellowstone and Treasure Counties, Mont- In pocket. 1. Index map of Montana, showing areas covered by this paper and other water-supply papers of the United States Geologi cal Survey relating to ground water___-_-_-_______--_ _ 1 2. Map showing present extent of terraces in Yellowstone and Treasure Counties------------------------------------- 11 3. Hypothetical section illustrating relation of ground water to rock structure in Yellowstone and Treasure Counties--.--. 44 4. Section showing a series of beds that have been arched up to form an anticline__________---------------------------- 45 5. Section showing a series of beds that have been bent down to form a syncline..---------------------------------- 46 PREFACE By O. E. MEINZER In the <Jef elopment of the eastern and central parts of the State of Montana during recent years some of the most serious problems that have been encountered have related to water supplies. Except in certain areas no attempt has been made to obtain water for irri gation, but in many localities it has been difficult to develop sup plies adequate in quantity and satisfactory in mineral composition for public waterworks, railroads, and domestic, stock, and indus trial uses. .. , . In this region, even more than in most others, the ground-water conditions are .controlled by the geology. The prospects of getting a satisfactory well and the depth to which it is necessary to drill in a certain town or a certain quarter section depend on the rock forma tion that happens to lie at the surface. As the formations do not lie horizontal but dip, here in one direction and there in another, the ground-water conditions may be radically different even on adjacent farms or in different parts of the same village. In 1915 and 1916 a reconnaissance of the ground-water conditions in the part of Montana lying south of Yellowstone River was made by the late Arthur J. Ellis, of the United States Geological Survey. In this work the State cooperated with the Geological Survey. The chemical analyses were made in the laboratory of the Montana State College and the State Board of Health, at Bozeman, under the super vision of W. M. Cobleighj director of the laboratory, and the records of some of the wells were collected through correspondence by A. W. Mahon, State engineer. As a result of this reconnaissance it became possible for the Geological Survey to give advice to many of the, residents of this section of the State in regard to obtaining water supplies by drilling wells. In 1917-1919 a similar but somewhat more detailed ground-water survey was made by Mr. Ellis of the region that is now covered by Musselshell and Golden Valley Counties. This work was also done in cooperation with the State. The results have been published as a water-supply paper.1 1 Bills, A. J., and Melnzer, O. E., Ground water in Musselshell and Golden Valley Counties, Mont.: U. S. GeoL Surrey Water-Supply Paper 518, 1924. VI PREFACE In 1921 a ground-water survey of Yellowstone, Treasure, and Big Horn Counties was made by George M. Hall, of the Geological Sur vey. These counties lie partly in the area south of the Yellowstone which had been covered in the reconnaissance by Mr. Ellis and partly in an area north of the river which had not previously been examined with respect to ground-water conditions. The present report re lates to Yellowstone and Treasure Counties; a similar water-supply paper on Big Horn County is in preparation. In 1921 it became impracticable for Doctor" Cobleigh to continue his cooperation. Therefore, the samples of water collected by Mr. Hall in the course of his field work were analyzed in the Geological Survey at Washington. The present report was prepared by Mr. Hall, except the parts relating to the quality of the water, which were written by Mr. Howard. In 1922 and 1923 a ground-water survey of Fergus County was made by Mr. Hall, and in 1923 a similar survey of the central and southern parts of Kosebud County*was made by B. Coieman Eenick. Thus a considerable part of eastern and central Montana has been covered by ground-water surveys, the results of, which should be of much practical value in solving the innumerable problems of water supply that will certainly arise in this region in future years. The large amount of fairly detailed work was made possible by the fact that the geology of most