Montana WaterReport
Check a property

Montana water data · Zip Code in Musselshell County

ZIP 59072: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59072: 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 6,373 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA SEMS, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)

Wells on record

2,912

2.3 per sq mi

Median well depth

176 ft

half of wells 90–308 ft

Median static water level

60 ft

2,409 measurements

Median tested yield

9 gpm

2,456 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in ZIP 59072?

Of 2,761 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 176 feet. Half were drilled between 90 and 308 feet; one in ten went deeper than 454 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 35 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
14%
50–100 ft
14%
100–200 ft
27%
200–300 ft
18%
300–500 ft
19%
500 ft and deeper
8%

Static water level

60 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 29 and 140 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

9 gpm

median tested yield · half between 5 and 15 gpm

21% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 19% 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 59072

289 wells have been completed here since 2016, 9 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed May 29, 2026. Records run back to 1900.

What the wells are for

  • Domestic1,416
  • Stockwater1,318
  • Monitoring315
  • Irrigation74
  • Research13

How they were drilled

  • Rotary1,192
  • Forward Rotary384
  • Churn123
  • Unknown67

Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59072

  • Vidic Drilling Inc77 since 2016 · 2026
  • American Drilling & Supply46 since 2016 · 2026
  • Gordon Drilling Inc34 since 2016 · 2020
  • Vidic Drilling32 since 2016 · 2026
  • Bertram Drilling Inc29 since 2016 · 2025
  • Haz Tech Drilling Inc19 since 2016 · 2022
  • Montana Salinity Control Association19 since 2016 · 2021
  • Gary's Drilling Inc.10 since 2016 · 2024

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 59072

Montana DNRC lists 3,402 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 2,286 groundwater and 1,116 surface water, 3,101 of them active. The median priority date is 1965, and the oldest claim dates to 1850.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim1,912
  • Ground Water Certificate1,287
  • Exempt Notice95
  • Provisional Permit71
  • Stockwater Permit27

Purposes

  • Stock1,678
  • Domestic650
  • Irrigation383
  • Domestic; Stock178
  • Wildlife138

DNRC basins

  • 40C1,809
  • 40A1,244
  • 43Q177
  • 40B172

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 59072 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.)129 wells · 33% · median 165 ft
  • Fort Union Formation117 wells · 30% · median 200 ft
  • Alluvium (quaternary)30 wells · 8% · median 30 ft
  • Hell Creek Formation26 wells · 7% · median 289 ft
  • Eagle Sandstone19 wells · 5% · median 315 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 59072

Petroleum releases

19

4 open · 15 resolved

Superfund program sites

1

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

39

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 2014. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.