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Montana water data · Zip Code in Powder River County

ZIP 59003: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59003: how deep wells go, where the water table sits, what wells produce, which water rights are on file, and which documented environmental sites are nearby. Area statistics orient you; a property report analyzes the records around one specific parcel.

Updated September 2026 · Based on 2,551 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)

Wells on record

777

1 per sq mi

Median well depth

140 ft

half of wells 59–280 ft

Median static water level

40 ft

568 measurements

Median tested yield

10 gpm

515 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in ZIP 59003?

Of 676 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 140 feet. Half were drilled between 59 and 280 feet; one in ten went deeper than 438 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 32 feet. Depth is set by local geology and position on the landscape, both of which change over short distances, so the spread matters as much as the median.

under 50 ft
21%
50–100 ft
20%
100–200 ft
20%
200–300 ft
16%
300–500 ft
17%
500 ft and deeper
6%

Static water level

40 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 17 and 100 ft

The static level is how far below ground the water stands before pumping, measured by the driller at completion. It affects pump setting and operating cost, and it moves with season and with neighbouring use.

Well yield

10 gpm

median tested yield · half between 6 and 20 gpm

14% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 30% produced 20 or more. These are short completion tests, not sustained-capacity tests; a household typically needs 3 to 5 gpm with storage.

Drilling activity

Recent well drilling in ZIP 59003

41 wells have been completed here since 2016, 3 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed July 30, 2026. Records run back to 1887.

What the wells are for

  • Stockwater364
  • Domestic218
  • Monitoring110
  • Unused25
  • Public Water Supply16

How they were drilled

  • Rotary227
  • Forward Rotary70
  • Air Rotary38
  • Drilled36

Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59003

  • Gary's Drilling Inc.19 since 2016 · 2026
  • Askin Drilling12 since 2016 · 2023
  • Higgins Drilling Company5 since 2016 · 2025
  • American Drilling & Supply1 since 2016 · 2019
  • Drane Drilling Service41 all-time · 2007
  • Higgins Drillng Company19 all-time · 2010
  • Hydrometrics Inc12 all-time · 2013
  • Mhd12 all-time · 1979

Ranked by well logs filed with GWIC, public record only. Not an endorsement, a referral or a paid listing; we have no business relationship with these companies. Verify licensing with the Montana Board of Water Well Contractors before hiring.

Water rights

Water rights on file in ZIP 59003

Montana DNRC lists 1,759 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 866 groundwater and 890 surface water, 1,538 of them active. The median priority date is 1934, and the oldest claim dates to 1878.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim1,454
  • Ground Water Certificate215
  • Exempt Notice59
  • Provisional Permit13
  • Compact9

Purposes

  • Stock1,325
  • Irrigation219
  • Domestic72
  • Domestic; Stock26
  • Multiple Domestic23

DNRC basins

  • 42C1,725
  • 42A21
  • 42B13

Area totals describe the neighbourhood, not any one parcel. Montana publishes no authoritative link between a parcel and a water right; whether a right attaches to a specific property is a property-level question that our reports answer with the DNRC abstract linked.

Aquifers and geology

What wells in ZIP 59003 draw from

Drillers record the aquifer a well is completed in. The units below account for the wells here that carry an aquifer assignment; the median depth beside each is for wells completed in that unit.

  • Tongue River Member (of Ft Union Fm.)421 wells · 78% · median 150 ft
  • Alluvium (quaternary)50 wells · 9% · median 46 ft
  • Tullock Member (of Ft Union Fm.)25 wells · 5% · median 700 ft
  • Fort Union Formation13 wells · 2% · median 205 ft
  • Alluvium (holocene)5 wells · 1% · median 37 ft

Aquifer assignments are the driller's, recorded at completion, and many older logs carry none. Absence of an assignment is not evidence about the geology.

Environmental groundwater screening

Documented environmental sites in ZIP 59003

Petroleum releases

5

1 open · 4 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

10

underground storage tanks, current and historical

A documented release or site in the area is not evidence that any particular well is affected. Whether a release reaches a well depends on groundwater flow direction, geology, well depth and construction, the extent of the plume and the cleanup performed. The most recent release reported here dates to 2002. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.