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Montana water data · Zip Code in Richland County

ZIP 59243: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59243: 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 1,150 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)

Wells on record

592

1.6 per sq mi

Median well depth

90 ft

half of wells 50–170 ft

Median static water level

40 ft

443 measurements

Median tested yield

10 gpm

465 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in ZIP 59243?

Of 566 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 90 feet. Half were drilled between 50 and 170 feet; one in ten went deeper than 294 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 31 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
23%
50–100 ft
30%
100–200 ft
26%
200–300 ft
11%
300–500 ft
8%
500 ft and deeper
2%

Static water level

40 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 20 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

10 gpm

median tested yield · half between 6 and 17 gpm

12% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 22% 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 59243

43 wells have been completed here since 2016, 3 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed June 26, 2026. Records run back to 1904.

What the wells are for

  • Stockwater406
  • Domestic173
  • Unused28
  • Irrigation17
  • Monitoring14

How they were drilled

  • Rotary216
  • Forward Rotary57
  • Bored41
  • Cable36

Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59243

  • Thermal Drill Inc17 since 2016 · 2023
  • Sharp Drilling Inc10 since 2016 · 2025
  • Agri Industries Inc5 since 2016 · 2019
  • Solid Waterwell Drilling5 since 2016 · 2025
  • Askin Drilling2 since 2016 · 2018
  • H & H Drilling1 since 2016 · 2016
  • Salsbury Well Drilling Inc64 all-time · 2008
  • Boyce Drilling42 all-time · 2005

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 59243

Montana DNRC lists 547 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 336 groundwater and 211 surface water, 518 of them active. The median priority date is 1969, and the oldest claim dates to 1880.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim274
  • Ground Water Certificate236
  • Provisional Permit26
  • Exempt Notice8
  • Stockwater Permit3

Purposes

  • Stock382
  • Domestic58
  • Domestic; Stock35
  • Irrigation26
  • Lawn And Garden6

DNRC basins

  • 42M300
  • 40S179
  • 40P68

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 59243 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.)280 wells · 77% · median 70 ft
  • Fort Union Formation50 wells · 14% · median 163 ft
  • Alluvium (quaternary)18 wells · 5% · median 25 ft
  • Fox Hills-hell Creek Aquifer5 wells · 1% · median 1,480 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 59243

Petroleum releases

5

1 open · 4 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

6

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 2009. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.