Water Rights & Land Ownership

This page brings together two essential public tools for understanding land and water in Yellowstone County: the Montana DNRC Water Rights Query System (WRQS) and the Montana Cadastral land ownership database. Together, they let you search water rights by owner or source, view parcel boundaries and ownership on a map, and connect the two — every parcel in the Cadastral carries a 17-digit geocode that links directly to water rights in the DNRC database.

Yellowstone County spans 2,649 square miles of the Yellowstone River corridor and surrounding benchlands, with approximately 7,500 active water rights. The Yellowstone River enters the county from the west near Laurel, flows northeast through the Billings area, and continues east toward Custer County. Three primary DNRC administrative basins cover the county: Basin 43Q (Yellowstone River between Clarks Fork and the Bighorn), Basin 43D (Clarks Fork Yellowstone), and Basin 43E (Pryor Creek). There are no storage dams on the Yellowstone River mainstem — all Yellowstone River diversions are run-of-river, making senior priority dates critical in dry years. The Huntley Project, a Bureau of Reclamation irrigation district northeast of Billings, irrigates roughly 18,000 acres under some of the most senior rights in the basin.

How these tools work together

1. Find your parcel in the Cadastral map below — search by owner name, address, or zoom to the location and click the parcel.
2. Note the 17-digit geocode shown in the parcel details.
3. Search water rights using the WRQS search tool on this page — select “By geocode / PLSS,” paste the geocode, and click “Search WRQS.” This opens the state database filtered to all water rights attached to that parcel.
4. View on the map — the interactive watershed map between these tools shows where major diversions, rivers, and irrigation areas are located across Yellowstone County, so you can see the broader context for any property.

Montana Cadastral — Yellowstone County Parcels & Land Ownership

The Montana Cadastral is the state’s official parcel mapping system, maintained by the Montana State Library and Department of Revenue. Every parcel in Yellowstone County is mapped with owner names, addresses, assessed values, agricultural use classifications, tax districts, and geocodes. Public land (BLM, state trust) appears as larger unsubdivided parcels. Search by owner name, geocode, or address in the top-left search bar, or click any parcel on the map to view its details.

MONTANA CADASTRAL — Yellowstone County parcels, ownership & land classification

Tip: Zoom into Yellowstone County (south-central Montana, around Billings). Click any parcel for owner info, assessed value, ag classification, and geocode. Copy the geocode, then scroll down to the WRQS search and paste it in the “By geocode / PLSS” field to find all water rights on that parcel.

What the Cadastral tells ranchers

• Parcel boundaries & ownership — verify legal descriptions and current owners when buying, selling, or leasing ranch land
• Agricultural classification — the Department of Revenue classifies land by use (irrigated cropland, dryland hay, grazing, forest) which directly affects property tax assessments
• Public land adjacency — identify BLM and state trust land bordering your operation, critical for grazing allotments and access
• Geocode → water rights — every parcel’s 17-digit geocode links to the DNRC water rights database. This is the fastest way to find all water rights attached to a property

Water Rights Map & Search

The interactive map below shows major points of diversion, rivers, tributaries, and irrigation areas across Yellowstone County — from Laurel and the Clarks Fork confluence in the southwest, through the Billings Rimrocks corridor, northeast past Huntley, Worden, and Pompeys Pillar, and south to Pryor Creek and the Pryor Mountains. Click any diversion point (colored dot) for details including the type of use, water source, and priority date.

Quick links

• Montana Cadastral (full screen) — Montana State Library parcel & ownership database
• WRQS — Montana DNRC Water Rights Query System
• WaterMapper — DNRC interactive GIS map of diversions, ditches & waterways
• GWIC Mapper — Montana Bureau of Mines groundwater wells & well logs
• Yellowstone County — county government, GIS & parcel data

Data Sources

• Montana State Library / MT Department of Revenue (Cadastral & ORION database)
• Montana DNRC Water Rights Database
• DNRC Water Rights Query System (WRQS)
• DNRC WaterMapper / ArcGIS
• Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology (GWIC)
• USDA NRCS Yellowstone County Long Range Plan (2021)