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Montana water data · Zip Code in Powder River County

ZIP 59317: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59317: 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 7,019 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)

Wells on record

1,877

1.3 per sq mi

Median well depth

200 ft

half of wells 100–380 ft

Median static water level

65 ft

1,245 measurements

Median tested yield

10 gpm

1,608 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in ZIP 59317?

Of 1,694 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 200 feet. Half were drilled between 100 and 380 feet; one in ten went deeper than 580 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 40 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
14%
50–100 ft
10%
100–200 ft
24%
200–300 ft
17%
300–500 ft
19%
500 ft and deeper
16%

Static water level

65 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 23 and 130 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

17% 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 59317

63 wells have been completed here since 2016, 12 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed July 28, 2026. Records run back to 1900.

What the wells are for

  • Stockwater1,304
  • Domestic465
  • Monitoring93
  • Irrigation70
  • Public Water Supply15

How they were drilled

  • Rotary510
  • Forward Rotary156
  • Drilled136
  • Auger29

Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59317

  • Askin Drilling37 since 2016 · 2026
  • Ww Drilling Llc12 since 2016 · 2026
  • Higgins Drilling Company5 since 2016 · 2025
  • Wwc Engineering3 since 2016 · 2017
  • Haz Tech Drilling Inc3 since 2016 · 2020
  • Water System Drilling Inc2 since 2016 · 2018
  • Sharp Drilling Inc1 since 2016 · 2016
  • Drane Drilling Service236 all-time · 2012

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 59317

Montana DNRC lists 5,095 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 2,191 groundwater and 2,904 surface water, 4,910 of them active. The median priority date is 1947, and the oldest claim dates to 1880.

Types of right

  • Powder River Declaration3,913
  • Ground Water Certificate612
  • Statement Of Claim396
  • Provisional Permit103
  • Conservation District Record31

Purposes

  • Stock3,064
  • Irrigation1,317
  • Domestic; Stock213
  • Domestic160
  • Irrigation; Stock83

DNRC basins

  • 42J3,482
  • 42I1,191
  • 42C409
  • 39F11
  • 38H1

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 59317 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.

  • Tullock Member (of Ft Union Fm.)505 wells · 34% · median 200 ft
  • Tongue River Member (of Ft Union Fm.)421 wells · 28% · median 140 ft
  • Lance-hell Creek Undifferentiated249 wells · 17% · median 550 ft
  • Fox Hills-hell Creek Aquifer198 wells · 13% · median 316 ft
  • Hell Creek Formation90 wells · 6% · median 200 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 59317

Petroleum releases

27

9 open · 18 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

20

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 2026. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.