Montana water data · Zip Code in Big Horn County
ZIP 59016: well depth, groundwater and water rights
What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59016: 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 729 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)
Wells on record
247
0.6 per sq mi
Median well depth
100 ft
half of wells 50–220 ft
Median static water level
40 ft
183 measurements
Median tested yield
15 gpm
168 pump tests
Well depth
How deep are wells in ZIP 59016?
Of 217 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 100 feet. Half were drilled between 50 and 220 feet; one in ten went deeper than 321 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 25 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.
Static water level
40 ft
median depth to water at rest · half between 21 and 82 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
15 gpm
median tested yield · half between 8 and 30 gpm
11% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 38% 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 59016
37 wells have been completed here since 2016, 6 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed June 11, 2026. Records run back to 1913.
What the wells are for
- Stockwater101
- Domestic77
- Monitoring39
- Geotech9
- Other5
How they were drilled
- Rotary90
- Unknown31
- Cable18
- Hollowstem Auger10
Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59016
- Gary's Drilling Inc.19 since 2016 · 2026
- Higgins Drilling Company7 since 2016 · 2023
- American Drilling & Supply3 since 2016 · 2025
- Gary Mayes Drilling Inc3 since 2016 · 2022
- Gary Mayes Drilling Inc.3 since 2016 · 2026
- Askin Drilling1 since 2016 · 2025
- Unknown36 all-time · 1981
- Haz Tech Drilling Inc14 all-time · 2009
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 59016
Montana DNRC lists 469 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 165 groundwater and 302 surface water, 414 of them active. The median priority date is 1945, and the oldest claim dates to 1868.
Types of right
- Statement Of Claim322
- Ground Water Certificate72
- Reserved Claim50
- Stockwater Permit12
- Compact8
Purposes
- Stock381
- Irrigation31
- Domestic23
- Domestic; Stock8
- Multiple Domestic7
DNRC basins
- 42A245
- 42B191
- 43O19
- 43P9
- 42KJ5
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 59016 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.)119 wells · 81% · median 100 ft
- Alluvium (quaternary)9 wells · 6% · median 23 ft
- Fort Union Formation7 wells · 5% · median 256 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 59016
Petroleum releases
4
0 open · 4 resolved
Superfund program sites
0
none on the National Priorities List
Registered tank facilities
9
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 2000. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.