Montana WaterReport
Check a property

Montana water data · Zip Code in Powder River County

ZIP 59316: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59316: 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 756 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)

Wells on record

160

1.2 per sq mi

Median well depth

212 ft

half of wells 161–311 ft

Median static water level

80 ft

127 measurements

Median tested yield

9 gpm

151 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in ZIP 59316?

Of 156 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 212 feet. Half were drilled between 161 and 311 feet; one in ten went deeper than 521 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 110 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
2%
50–100 ft
5%
100–200 ft
34%
200–300 ft
29%
300–500 ft
15%
500 ft and deeper
15%

Static water level

80 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 50 and 129 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

9 gpm

median tested yield · half between 5 and 15 gpm

22% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 15% 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 59316

10 wells have been completed here since 2016, 2 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed June 14, 2026. Records run back to 1914.

What the wells are for

  • Stockwater150
  • Domestic28
  • Public Water Supply1
  • Irrigation1

How they were drilled

  • Rotary39
  • Drilled28
  • Forward Rotary13
  • Roatary1

Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59316

  • Ww Drilling Llc7 since 2016 · 2026
  • Askin Drilling3 since 2016 · 2024
  • Drane Drilling Service41 all-time · 2010
  • Bandy5 all-time · 1965
  • Harlan Jones Drilling3 all-time · 1991

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 59316

Montana DNRC lists 595 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 237 groundwater and 358 surface water, 575 of them active. The median priority date is 1950, and the oldest claim dates to 1881.

Types of right

  • Powder River Declaration528
  • Ground Water Certificate51
  • Provisional Permit11
  • Statement Of Claim3
  • Water Reservation2

Purposes

  • Stock382
  • Irrigation138
  • Domestic; Stock26
  • Irrigation; Stock25
  • Domestic10

DNRC basins

  • 42I340
  • 42J255

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 59316 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.

  • Hell Creek Formation71 wells · 46% · median 180 ft
  • Fox Hills-hell Creek Aquifer51 wells · 33% · median 240 ft
  • Fox Hills Formation Or Sandstone15 wells · 10% · median 510 ft
  • Lance-hell Creek Undifferentiated8 wells · 5% · median 600 ft
  • Tullock Member (of Ft Union Fm.)7 wells · 5% · median 310 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 59316

Petroleum releases

1

1 open · 0 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

0

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 1992. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.