Montana water data · Zip Code in Phillips County
ZIP 59261: well depth, groundwater and water rights
What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59261: 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 2,498 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)
Wells on record
422
0.6 per sq mi
Median well depth
60 ft
half of wells 37–82 ft
Median static water level
20 ft
327 measurements
Median tested yield
10 gpm
352 pump tests
Well depth
How deep are wells in ZIP 59261?
Of 411 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 60 feet. Half were drilled between 37 and 82 feet; one in ten went deeper than 114 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 23 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
20 ft
median depth to water at rest · half between 14 and 40 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 7 and 16 gpm
8% 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 59261
25 wells have been completed here since 2016, 3 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed July 22, 2026. Records run back to 1908.
What the wells are for
- Stockwater256
- Domestic191
- Monitoring32
- Irrigation20
- Unused6
How they were drilled
- Cable63
- Rotary62
- Churn35
- Hollowstem Auger13
Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59261
- Aquasource Drilling Llc7 since 2016 · 2024
- Eaton Drilling Co4 since 2016 · 2017
- Petrie Pump & Drilling4 since 2016 · 2023
- Jacobson Drilling4 since 2016 · 2026
- Hansen Environmental Drilling3 since 2016 · 2016
- Palm's Drilling20 all-time · 1977
- Erickson Drilling & Pump Co20 all-time · 1975
- Simpson Drilling Co.13 all-time · 1981
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 59261
Montana DNRC lists 2,065 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 407 groundwater and 1,658 surface water, 1,946 of them active. The median priority date is 1945, and the oldest claim dates to 1888.
Types of right
- Statement Of Claim1,667
- Ground Water Certificate126
- Stockwater Permit100
- Provisional Permit76
- Reserved Claim62
Purposes
- Stock1,340
- Wildlife256
- Irrigation235
- Domestic95
- Domestic; Stock28
DNRC basins
- 40M922
- 40L571
- 40J330
- 40K187
- 40N33
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 59261 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.
- Alluvium (quaternary)148 wells · 68% · median 60 ft
- Glacial Drift32 wells · 15% · median 38 ft
- Judith River Formation (of Montana Group)24 wells · 11% · median 88 ft
- Claggett Shale Or Formation5 wells · 2% · median 96 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 59261
Petroleum releases
5
3 open · 2 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 2001. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.