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Montana water data · Zip Code in Richland County

ZIP 59221: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59221: 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 1,160 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)

Wells on record

634

2.4 per sq mi

Median well depth

98 ft

half of wells 47–200 ft

Median static water level

40 ft

451 measurements

Median tested yield

10 gpm

487 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in ZIP 59221?

Of 580 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 98 feet. Half were drilled between 47 and 200 feet; one in ten went deeper than 356 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 28 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
26%
50–100 ft
24%
100–200 ft
23%
200–300 ft
13%
300–500 ft
9%
500 ft and deeper
4%

Static water level

40 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 20 and 90 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 18 gpm

11% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 24% 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 59221

66 wells have been completed here since 2016, 10 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed March 20, 2026. Records run back to 1905.

What the wells are for

  • Stockwater257
  • Domestic255
  • Monitoring57
  • Test Well24
  • Industrial17

How they were drilled

  • Rotary229
  • Forward Rotary67
  • Cable49
  • Bored32

Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59221

  • Solid Waterwell Drilling21 since 2016 · 2025
  • Sharp Drilling Inc16 since 2016 · 2025
  • Agri Industries Inc13 since 2016 · 2026
  • Thermal Drill Inc6 since 2016 · 2023
  • Hansen Environmental Drilling3 since 2016 · 2022
  • Pioneer Technical Services Inc3 since 2016 · 2025
  • H & H Drilling2 since 2016 · 2023
  • Salsbury Well Drilling Inc69 all-time · 2008

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 59221

Montana DNRC lists 505 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 328 groundwater and 177 surface water, 471 of them active. The median priority date is 1980, and the oldest claim dates to 1880.

Types of right

  • Ground Water Certificate250
  • Statement Of Claim199
  • Provisional Permit32
  • Stockwater Permit8
  • Exempt Notice5

Purposes

  • Stock246
  • Domestic88
  • Domestic; Stock40
  • Irrigation38
  • Industrial15

DNRC basins

  • 42M384
  • 40S121

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 59221 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.)170 wells · 50% · median 84 ft
  • Fort Union Formation48 wells · 14% · median 260 ft
  • Terrace Deposits (pleistocene)38 wells · 11% · median 38 ft
  • Alluvium (quaternary)30 wells · 9% · median 46 ft
  • Alluvium (pleistocene)13 wells · 4% · median 45 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 59221

Petroleum releases

8

2 open · 6 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

13

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 2004. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.