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Montana water data · Zip Code in Richland County

ZIP 59270: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59270: 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 4,024 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)

Wells on record

2,243

2.5 per sq mi

Median well depth

70 ft

half of wells 35–155 ft

Median static water level

25 ft

1,471 measurements

Median tested yield

12 gpm

1,684 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in ZIP 59270?

Of 2,019 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 70 feet. Half were drilled between 35 and 155 feet; one in ten went deeper than 300 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 20 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
37%
50–100 ft
23%
100–200 ft
22%
200–300 ft
8%
300–500 ft
5%
500 ft and deeper
6%

Static water level

25 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 12 and 65 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

12 gpm

median tested yield · half between 7 and 23 gpm

12% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 32% 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 59270

170 wells have been completed here since 2016, 6 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed August 18, 2026. Records run back to 1900.

What the wells are for

  • Domestic1,053
  • Stockwater865
  • Monitoring218
  • Irrigation82
  • Public Water Supply69

How they were drilled

  • Rotary754
  • Cable210
  • Forward Rotary197
  • Hollowstem Auger61

Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59270

  • Thermal Drill Inc59 since 2016 · 2023
  • Sharp Drilling Inc28 since 2016 · 2025
  • Solid Waterwell Drilling21 since 2016 · 2025
  • Agri Industries Inc16 since 2016 · 2024
  • Sk Geotechnical Co10 since 2016 · 2022
  • Erickson Drilling & Pump Co7 since 2016 · 2024
  • Erickson Brothers Trucking & Drilling Llc6 since 2016 · 2026
  • Dls Contracting5 since 2016 · 2018

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 59270

Montana DNRC lists 1,656 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 1,271 groundwater and 385 surface water, 1,529 of them active. The median priority date is 1981, and the oldest claim dates to 1870.

Types of right

  • Ground Water Certificate935
  • Statement Of Claim604
  • Provisional Permit66
  • Stockwater Permit18
  • Exempt Notice17

Purposes

  • Stock639
  • Domestic413
  • Domestic; Stock104
  • Irrigation103
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden86

DNRC basins

  • 42M1,632
  • 40S24

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 59270 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.)403 wells · 36% · median 100 ft
  • Alluvium (quaternary)209 wells · 19% · median 37 ft
  • Fort Union Formation154 wells · 14% · median 190 ft
  • Terrace Deposits (pleistocene)127 wells · 11% · median 35 ft
  • Fox Hills-hell Creek Aquifer63 wells · 6% · median 1,250 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 59270

Petroleum releases

44

8 open · 36 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

81

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 2022. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.