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County water report

Dawson County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Dawson County, Montana.

Water grade

F

Water score

13.2

State rank

#45

of 55

Health violations

17

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

0.0%

14 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

1

42 recent measurements

Live streamflow

68%

Yellowstone River at Glendive, MT

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Dawson County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

F

Score: 13.2 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

17

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

0% impaired

14 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

68% of mean

Yellowstone River at Glendive, MT

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

1

42 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

F

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

13.2/100

Health violations

17

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

229.1

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Dawson County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Dawson County's water systems carry a failing grade, scoring 13.2 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 17 health-based violations — a pattern that public water utilities are required to disclose and correct.

Watershed Conditions

EPA ATTAINS

Under the Clean Water Act §303(d), EPA ATTAINS tracks whether waterways meet quality standards for drinking, recreation, and aquatic life (reporting cycle: 2022). None of the assessed waterways are listed as impaired (0 of 14 water bodies) across Dawson County's watersheds. Impairment does not mean tap water is unsafe — it measures ambient waterway conditions upstream of treatment, not finished drinking water.

River & Streamflow Status

USGS NWIS

USGS NWIS gauge data (as of 2026-05-14T12:00:00.000-06:00) puts Yellowstone River at 8.9k cfs — running somewhat below its historical average at 68% of mean. Streamflow is a leading indicator of drought stress, sediment load, and dilution capacity: low flows concentrate pollutants and warm water temperatures, stressing aquatic life and, in surface-water-dependent systems, the source water quality for treatment plants.

Monitoring Network

EPA WQP

EPA's Water Quality Portal (WQP) aggregates monitoring data from federal, state, and tribal agencies. Dawson County has limited coverage with 1 active monitoring site with 42 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include inorganics, minor, non-metals and organics, other. More monitoring sites generally indicate greater scientific attention to local water conditions — and provide the baseline data that regulators use to set future impairment listings.

Editorial advisory

What the data suggests for Dawson County

Water Verdict

Dawson County receives a poor water quality assessment with a grade of F and a score of 13.2 out of 100. The water supply has documented quality issues. Residents are strongly encouraged to use filtered or bottled water for drinking and to stay informed about utility improvement plans.

Violation Context

Dawson County has recorded 17 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 229.1 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues.

Consumer Guidance

Drinking-water compliance in Dawson County is rated Grade F, reflecting significant health-based violations in the recent reporting period. Dawson County's drinking-water compliance score is 13.2 out of 100. An NSF 53 or NSF 58-certified filter is recommended for drinking and cooking water. Check the Consumer Confidence Report from your utility to identify the specific contaminants and required corrective actions — utilities are legally required to notify customers of violations. There is 1 active water-quality monitoring site in Dawson County. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the Yellowstone River gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Dawson County has poorer water quality than the average county in Montana. Its water score is 35.7 points lower than the state average, suggesting more challenges with contamination control or infrastructure than neighboring counties.

Advisory text summarizes county-level public records and is not a replacement for your utility's current Consumer Confidence Report or direct local notices.

Contaminants & Resources

Key issues flagged in Dawson County's water environment

Official EPA Resources for Dawson County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Dawson County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Dawson County

Consumer Confidence Reports (MT)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Montana

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

0.0%

0 of 14 assessed

Mostly healthy

Top Impairment Causes

No specific impairment causes reported for the assessed water bodies in this county.

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Impairment is determined under the Clean Water Act §303(d): a water body is impaired when it fails to meet state-defined quality standards for designated uses (drinking, recreation, aquatic life). Assessment coverage varies by state; counties without assessed water bodies are not shown.

Past 5 years

Water Quality Monitoring

Monitoring Sites

1

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

42

42 total readings

Most Measured

  • Inorganics, Minor, Non-metals
  • Organics, Other

Categories measured most frequently

Data from the EPA Water Quality Portal (WQP), aggregating monitoring records from federal, state, and tribal sources. Each measurement represents a single sample analyzed for a specific characteristic (e.g., E. coli, pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrogen).

Live USGS Streamgage

River & Stream Conditions

Current Discharge

8,870cfs

May 14, 6:00 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

68%

Below typical

Primary Streamgage

Yellowstone River at Glendive, MT

USGS site
06327500
Drainage area
66,731 sq mi
Long-term mean
13.1K cfs

One representative streamgage (the one with the largest drainage area in the county). Many counties have multiple gauges; this view summarizes the primary one. The long-term mean is the full-record annual average; the percent-of-typical value compares the latest reading against that average.

Free tool

Estimate Your Water Costs

Water Cost Estimate

3

3 people  ·  ~225 gal/day

Annual Total

$558

Monthly

$47

Water Bill

$558/yr

Filter Cost

$0/yr

Safety Grade for Dawson County:C — Moderate

Some violations or watershed impairment detected.

Estimates use the national average residential water rate ($0.0068/gal, EPA/AWWA 2023) and EPA WaterSense per-person consumption baseline (75 gal/person/day). Actual bills vary by utility, usage tier, and local infrastructure fees. For informational purposes only.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in Dawson County, Montana?
Dawson County, Montana has a drinking-water quality grade of F with a score of 13.2/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 17 health-based drinking water violations over the past 5 years. Watershed health, monitoring records, and streamflow snapshots are reported separately on this page.
Are there any water violations in Dawson County?
Dawson County has 17 health-based drinking water violations recorded by the EPA over the past 5 years. Health-based violations indicate instances where contaminant levels exceeded EPA Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs). Violations may have been resolved — check with your local water utility for current status.
How healthy are the watersheds in Dawson County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 0.0% of Dawson County's 14 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (0 impaired). Impairment means the water body fails to meet state quality standards for at least one designated use — drinking water source, recreation, aquatic life, or fish consumption. Note: watershed impairment doesn't always translate to tap-water issues; treatment plants can remove most regulated contaminants.
How much water-quality monitoring happens in Dawson County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 42 measurements from 1 monitoring sites in Dawson County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Inorganics, Minor, Non-metals, Organics, Other. Each measurement is a single sample analyzed for one characteristic (E. coli, pH, dissolved oxygen, etc.). High monitoring density means more scientific evidence behind any reported signal — it does not by itself indicate water quality.
What's happening with rivers in Dawson County right now?
Dawson County's primary USGS streamgage on the Yellowstone River has a pipeline snapshot of 8,870 cubic feet per second — 68% of the long-term mean of 13,114.51 cfs. Flow is within typical range for this gauge. For the latest gauge feed, visit waterdata.usgs.gov.
How does Dawson County water compare to the Montana average?
Dawson County's SDWIS water quality score of 13.2/100 is lower than the Montana state average of 48.9. The average water quality grade across Montana is D, based on data from 55 counties with available SDWIS data.
Is tap water safe to drink in Dawson County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Dawson County has a water quality grade of F (13.2/100). This indicates below-average compliance with significant violations. Residents may want to consider home water filtration or independent testing. The grade speaks to the public water system, not the watershed — for watershed-level concerns, see the Watershed Health zone. For the most up-to-date information, contact your local water utility or review your Consumer Confidence Report (CCR).
Why does Dawson County have so many water violations?
Dawson County has 17 health-based drinking water violations on record from the EPA SDWIS database. A higher violation count can result from aging infrastructure, underfunded water utilities, agricultural runoff contamination, or industrial pollution. Counties with more water systems may also see more violations simply due to scale. Residents concerned about water quality should consider independent water testing and home filtration systems.
How does Dawson County rank for water quality in Montana?
Dawson County ranks #45 out of 55 counties in Montana by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 13.2/100, it falls in the bottom third of counties statewide. The ranking reflects EPA SDWIS compliance only — not watershed impairment, monitoring density, or streamflow, which are tracked separately on this page.

Counties with Similar Water Quality

Custer County

Montana

F

13.5

Water score

Pondera County

Montana

F

15.1

Water score

Wibaux County

Montana

F

9.4

Water score

Data Sources

Drinking-water compliance data from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) via the ECHO enforcement database. Scores reflect compliance history and health-based violation counts.

Watershed health and impaired-waterway data from the EPA ATTAINS Clean Water Act §303(d) assessments, state-reported and EPA-finalized.

Water-quality monitoring counts from the EPA Water Quality Portal (WQP), federated USGS, EPA, and state agency sampling records over a rolling 5-year window.

Live streamflow from the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS), continuous discharge measurements from the largest-drainage gauge in each county, compared against the full-record long-term annual mean.

Disclaimer: This data is informational only. It is not health, legal, or professional advice. For concerns about your specific water supply, contact your local water utility.

By Evan Brooks, Data EditorUpdated Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

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