Wells and Septic Systems in the LWQD, Gallatin County, Montana
Author: Steve Custer, Earth Sciences, Montana State
University,
Bozeman, MT 59717-3480
Data Compiled by: Andrea Wright, Daryl Chipman, Luke Lohmuller,
Steve Custer, Bob Snyder, and Julie LaBranche.
(Last modified 15 June 2000; 02 January 20010)
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Example Questions the Database Can Answer
1. Where are wells that can be located on a map (Geocode, and
GWIC)
2. Where are septic systems that can be located on a map
(Geocode, and Gallatin Department of
environmental Health)
3. How many wells are near the area of interest?
4. How many septic systems are near the area of interest?
5. When was the site built (Geocode, Well, Septic)?
6. Where are the old septic systems?
There are 4 themes which show where wells and septic systems are in
the
Local Water Quality District (LWQD) in Gallatin County, Montana:
NOTE: THERE ARE NO STATIC
IMAGES AVAILABLE FOR THIS WEB PAGE.
- Wells (7). This theme shows all locations where DOR Geocode
or
GWIC
show a well and the location could be identified on the Gallatin County
Road Book.
- Septic (8). This theme shows all locations where DOR
Geocode or
the
GCDEH indicate a septic system and the location could be identified on
the Gallatin County Road Book.
- Well or Septic. This theme shows all locations where DOR
Geocode
or the GCDEH indicate a septic system and the location could be
identified
on the Gallatin County Road Book.
- Well-Septic Score. A point with a well has the attribute 7
and a
point with a septic system has the attribute 8. If a point has
both
attributes, the attributes can be summed to 15, if a point has a well
and
no septic system indicated the sum of 7 and 0 is 7, and if a point has
a septic system and no well the score is the sum of 8 and 0 or 8.
Thus the locations of well and septic, just well and just septic can be
identified.
The data comes from four sources:
1. The geocode comes from the CAMAS data base maintained by
the Montana Department of Revenue (DOR). The DOR data base
includes
information on property address, date built and utilities
present.
Utilities include well, septic system, public and community water,
public
and community septic systems, and Gas. If the point cannot be located
the
point is not digitized.
2. Well location data is available from the Montana
Ground-Water Information Center.
3. Septic system location data is available from
the Gallatin County Department of Environmental Health (GCDEH).
The GCDEH data is in the septic permit file.
4. Gallatin County Road Book Dots.
The Gallatin County Road Book shows street addresses sections,
subdivisions,
lots and blocks. Each structure is shown by a dot. If there
is a dot but no septic, well, or geocode data, then the dot was
digitized
without any attribute data.
Duplicate points do not have unique locations. The well-septic
database assumes only one location for each address in the road book.
About
the
Data This map shows where wells and septic systems are in the Local
Water Quality
District (LWQD) in Gallatin County Montana. The data comes from
four
sources:
1. The CAMAS data base maintained by the Montana Department
of Revenue (DOR) The DOR data base includes information on property
address,
date built and utilities present. Utilities include well, septic
system, public and community water, public and community septic
systems,
and Gas. DOR sites are identified with a unique Geocode. If the
geocode
location could be identified based on address or subdivision lot and
block
the point was digitized from the 1995 Gallatin County Road Book by
coordinating
section corners with the Gallatin County Public Land Survey System
(PLSS)
data and associated relevant permit data was attached. If
the
point cannot be located the point is not digitized.
2. Well location data available from the Montana
Ground-Water
Information Center. Again, if a well could be located based on
address
or subdivision, block and lot, the point was entered and data regarding
the M-Number or GWIC identification number was added as was date
drilled.
The point was digitized from the 1995 Gallatin County Road Book
by
coordinating section corners with the Gallatin County Public Land
Survey
System (PLSS) data and associated relevant permit data was
attached.
3. Septic system location data available from the Gallatin
County Department of Environmental Health (GCDEH).
The GCDEH data is in the septic permit file. If the septic permit
location could be identified based on address or subdivision lot and
block
the point was digitized on the 1995 Gallatin County Road Book by
coordinating
section corners with the Gallatin County Public Land Survey System
(PLSS)
data and associated relevant permit data was attached.
4. Gallatin County Road Book Dots.
The Gallatin County Road Book shows street addresses sections,
subdivisions,
lots and blocks. Each structure is shown by a dot. If there
is a dot but no septic, well, or geocode data, then the dot was
digitized
from the 1995 Gallatin County Road Book by coordinating section corners
with the Gallatin County Public Land Survey System (PLSS) data and
digitizing
the point without any attribute data.
If more than septic permit or well identification number
(M-Number)
exists for an address, this number is simply recorded as a multiple
number
for that point and no new point is “spawned”. As a result the
duplicate
points do not have unique locations. The well-septic database
assumes
only one location for each address in the road book. Multiples
are
recorded but not given unique point locations. Information about
whether there is a well or septic system present is recorded, but
detailed
information about well properties or septic properties are not
provided.
Detailed attribute data regarding wells can be found in the well
coverage.
Not all points show either a well or a septic system. Each
structure
indicated on the road book was recorded regardless of whether there is
well or septic system information present. In summary, the
presence
or absence of a well and/or septic system is recorded and duplicates or
multiples at a site are ignored.
Summary of the four files welsep, welfnl, sepfnl, geocshp, and their
differences: (There are two primary differences between the
welsep
and the coverages named geocshp, welsep and septicfnl.
First,
the welsep file contains information drawn from three sources
Department
of Revenue Geocode database (well and septic data); the Montana Bureau
of Mines and Geology Ground Water Information System (wells); the
Gallatin
County Septic Permit database (septic system). These data are
drawn
together so that data from multiple sources can be assessed at the same
time.) If multiple wells, geocodes, or septic systems are listed
at a site, only one point is given, but there are multiple columns for
other septic system, well number, or geocode unit number at that point.
Welsep.shp Metadata
Welfnl.shp Metadata
Sepfnl.shp Metadata
Geocshp.shp Metadata
Alternatively, there are three separate geocode, well, and septic
data
bases (geocshp, welfnl, and septicfnl): these databases have had the
locations
where multiple geocodes wells or septic systems are indicated at a
single
site moved arbitrarily located several m from the first point so that
each
has a unique point location. This information also allows one to
explore the data base from different sources and the data from that
source
without dealing with the information from the other sources. (Although
the geocode (parcel ID without the county
number and the A97) is reported on all three data bases so that there
is
a common code.
The attached table indicates the meaning
of each item in the attribute table for the well and septic point
coverage.