Montana water data · Zip Code in Garfield County

ZIP 59312: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59312: 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 568 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)

Wells on record

168

0.6 per sq mi

Median well depth

171 ft

half of wells 114–220 ft

Median static water level

70 ft

113 measurements

Median tested yield

10 gpm

149 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in ZIP 59312?

Of 165 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 171 feet. Half were drilled between 114 and 220 feet; one in ten went deeper than 337 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 80 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
4%
50–100 ft
13%
100–200 ft
48%
200–300 ft
21%
300–500 ft
11%
500 ft and deeper
4%

Static water level

70 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 40 and 115 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 5 and 15 gpm

10% 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 59312

12 wells have been completed here since 2016. The newest log on file was completed April 29, 2025. Records run back to 1908.

What the wells are for

  • Stockwater146
  • Domestic30
  • Test Well6
  • Monitoring5
  • Irrigation1

How they were drilled

  • Rotary64
  • Forward Rotary12
  • Unknown8
  • Air Rotary4

Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59312

  • Higgins Drilling Company7 since 2016 · 2025
  • Askin Drilling5 since 2016 · 2023
  • Higgins Drillng Company19 all-time · 2008
  • Ronald L Askin Drilling10 all-time · 2011
  • Unknown7 all-time · 1982
  • Drillwest5 all-time · 1980
  • Drane Drilling Service4 all-time · 1968
  • Eastern Montana Drilling4 all-time · 1952

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 59312

Montana DNRC lists 400 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 171 groundwater and 229 surface water, 388 of them active. The median priority date is 1956, and the oldest claim dates to 1864.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim318
  • Ground Water Certificate58
  • Provisional Permit13
  • Stockwater Permit7
  • Irrigation District2

Purposes

  • Stock304
  • Irrigation59
  • Domestic18
  • Domestic; Stock5
  • Irrigation; Stock4

DNRC basins

  • 40D375
  • 40E25

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 59312 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.

  • Fort Union Formation14 wells · 61% · median 186 ft
  • Fox Hills-hell Creek Aquifer5 wells · 22% · median 600 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.