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Montana water data · Zip Code in Custer County

ZIP 59338: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59338: 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 285 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)

Wells on record

106

1.3 per sq mi

Median well depth

350 ft

half of wells 209–440 ft

Median static water level

42 ft

48 measurements

Median tested yield

15 gpm

102 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in ZIP 59338?

Of 101 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 350 feet. Half were drilled between 209 and 440 feet; one in ten went deeper than 600 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 58 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
10%
50–100 ft
1%
100–200 ft
9%
200–300 ft
20%
300–500 ft
39%
500 ft and deeper
22%

Static water level

42 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 14 and 89 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

15 gpm

median tested yield · half between 9 and 20 gpm

5% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 43% 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 59338

10 wells have been completed here since 2016, 1 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed January 12, 2026. Records run back to 1900.

What the wells are for

  • Stockwater86
  • Domestic57
  • Public Water Supply2
  • Irrigation2
  • Commercial1

How they were drilled

  • Rotary32
  • Forward Rotary6
  • Unknown2
  • Air Rotary1

Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59338

  • Askin Drilling9 since 2016 · 2026
  • Higgins Drilling Company1 since 2016 · 2025
  • Ronald L Askin Drilling6 all-time · 2002
  • Higgins Drillng Company5 all-time · 2008

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 59338

Montana DNRC lists 178 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 106 groundwater and 72 surface water, 175 of them active. The median priority date is 1966, and the oldest claim dates to 1900.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim110
  • Ground Water Certificate50
  • Provisional Permit9
  • Stockwater Permit5
  • Exempt Notice3

Purposes

  • Stock123
  • Domestic27
  • Irrigation9
  • Domestic; Stock7
  • Lawn And Garden3

DNRC basins

  • 42K178

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 59338 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.

  • Fox Hills-hell Creek Aquifer84 wells · 91% · median 360 ft
  • Fort Union Formation5 wells · 5% · median 360 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 59338

Petroleum releases

0

0 open · 0 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

1

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