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Montana water data · Zip Code in Golden Valley County

ZIP 59046: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59046: 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 1,816 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)

Wells on record

640

1.1 per sq mi

Median well depth

145 ft

half of wells 77–250 ft

Median static water level

41 ft

484 measurements

Median tested yield

8 gpm

564 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in ZIP 59046?

Of 617 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 145 feet. Half were drilled between 77 and 250 feet; one in ten went deeper than 420 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 29 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
18%
50–100 ft
15%
100–200 ft
31%
200–300 ft
17%
300–500 ft
12%
500 ft and deeper
8%

Static water level

41 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 20 and 85 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

8 gpm

median tested yield · half between 4 and 20 gpm

26% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 25% 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 59046

61 wells have been completed here since 2016, 4 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed July 27, 2026. Records run back to 1910.

What the wells are for

  • Stockwater321
  • Domestic270
  • Monitoring44
  • Irrigation22
  • Unused6

How they were drilled

  • Rotary206
  • Forward Rotary96
  • Churn24
  • Cable18

Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59046

  • Vidic Drilling Inc17 since 2016 · 2022
  • American Drilling & Supply17 since 2016 · 2025
  • Vidic Drilling13 since 2016 · 2026
  • Outlaw Drilling & Pump, Llc4 since 2016 · 2026
  • Gordon Drilling Inc3 since 2016 · 2018
  • A-1 Drilling2 since 2016 · 2022
  • Aaqua Drilling Inc1 since 2016 · 2022
  • Hunt Drilling70 all-time · 1992

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 59046

Montana DNRC lists 1,170 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 679 groundwater and 491 surface water, 1,086 of them active. The median priority date is 1950, and the oldest claim dates to 1850.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim787
  • Ground Water Certificate324
  • Provisional Permit40
  • Exempt Notice11
  • Stockwater Permit7

Purposes

  • Stock722
  • Irrigation164
  • Domestic122
  • Domestic; Stock43
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden18

DNRC basins

  • 40A1,145
  • 43Q19
  • 40C4
  • 40B2

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 59046 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.

  • Hell Creek Formation88 wells · 28% · median 106 ft
  • Eagle Sandstone62 wells · 20% · median 145 ft
  • Judith River Formation (of Montana Group)34 wells · 11% · median 130 ft
  • Claggett Shale Or Formation33 wells · 11% · median 81 ft
  • Colorado Shale Or Fm. (of Colorado Group)21 wells · 7% · median 214 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 59046

Petroleum releases

3

0 open · 3 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

3

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 2007. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.