Deed Restrictions in Silver Bow County, Montana

Three Controlled Groundwater Areas can block a new private well outright

Montana's Department of Natural Resources and Conservation has designated three separate Controlled Groundwater Areas (CGAs) covering parts of Butte-Silver Bow, each created by a formal DNRC order at a different time as mining-related groundwater contamination was documented in that area: the Rocker Controlled Groundwater Area (1997), the Clark Tailings/Old Landfill Controlled Groundwater Area (1999), and the Butte Alluvial/Bedrock Controlled Groundwater Area (2009). These aren't just planning boundaries -- inside the Butte Alluvial and Bedrock CGA specifically, a new groundwater well can only be permitted after review and approval by the Butte-Silver Bow Board of Health (acting as the Butte-Silver Bow Water Quality District), the U.S. EPA, and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. That's a materially higher bar than drilling a well almost anywhere else in Montana, where a simple exempt-well appropriation or a standard DNRC permit is typically all that's required.

For a buyer, this means a parcel's specific location relative to these three CGA boundaries is a real, practical question before assuming you can drill a domestic well -- not an abstract Superfund detail. A property just outside all three CGAs faces Montana's ordinary well-permitting rules; a property inside one, especially the Butte Alluvial/Bedrock CGA, faces a multi-agency review that can add real time and uncertainty to a plan that depends on a private well for water supply. Confirm CGA status for a specific parcel with Butte-Silver Bow's Water Quality District office before assuming a well is a viable water source.

Digging anywhere in Butte requires a permit -- the Excavation and Dirt-Moving Ordinance

Separate from the groundwater restrictions, Butte-Silver Bow maintains an Excavation Control District and an associated Excavation and Dirt-Moving Ordinance specifically to manage soils potentially contaminated with lead, arsenic, or other mining waste -- a legacy of over a century of smelting and mining in and around Butte. The ordinance applies to residential, commercial, recreational, and industrial projects, and an Excavation and Dirt-Moving Permit is required before proceeding with excavation or dirt-moving activity covered by it. This is enforced by the consolidated Butte-Silver Bow city-county government itself, not a separate state or federal office.

Practically, this means a homeowner or buyer planning anything from a foundation dig to significant landscaping or a new septic line within the ordinance's coverage area should expect to pull a permit first, rather than assume ordinary Montana practice (where excavation on your own residential lot typically requires no special permit beyond standard building permits) applies unmodified in Butte. Before starting any excavation or significant dirt-moving project on a Silver Bow County property, check with Butte-Silver Bow's relevant office for the ordinance's current coverage area and permit requirements -- and budget the lead time a permit process adds into your project timeline.

What this means for your purchase

Before making an offer on a Silver Bow County property where a private well or significant excavation is part of your plan, ask Butte-Silver Bow's Water Quality District whether the parcel sits inside the Rocker, Clark Tailings/Old Landfill, or Butte Alluvial/Bedrock Controlled Groundwater Area, and separately confirm with the county's Excavation Control District office whether the property falls within the Excavation and Dirt-Moving Ordinance's coverage and what permit that requires. Neither question is answered by the general BPSOU/Berkeley Pit history covered on the hub, and neither should be assumed resolved just because a specific parcel sits outside the historically visible Butte Hill core -- CGA boundaries and the excavation-ordinance coverage area are defined independently and should each be checked on their own terms.