Montana water data · Zip Code in Powder River County

ZIP 59343: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59343: 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 1,004 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)

Wells on record

326

1.9 per sq mi

Median well depth

150 ft

half of wells 94–210 ft

Median static water level

70 ft

265 measurements

Median tested yield

12 gpm

263 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in ZIP 59343?

Of 285 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 150 feet. Half were drilled between 94 and 210 feet; one in ten went deeper than 320 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
12%
50–100 ft
14%
100–200 ft
46%
200–300 ft
15%
300–500 ft
11%
500 ft and deeper
2%

Static water level

70 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 30 and 125 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 8 and 20 gpm

8% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 28% 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 59343

9 wells have been completed here since 2016. The newest log on file was completed July 24, 2025. Records run back to 1902.

What the wells are for

  • Stockwater249
  • Domestic62
  • Monitoring26
  • Irrigation3
  • Test Well2

How they were drilled

  • Rotary90
  • Forward Rotary30
  • Hollowstem Auger10
  • Hollow-stem Auger7

Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59343

  • Askin Drilling6 since 2016 · 2025
  • Ww Drilling Llc3 since 2016 · 2022
  • Drane Drilling Service35 all-time · 2009
  • Sk Geotechnical Co17 all-time · 2015
  • Bandy16 all-time · 1963
  • H & H Drilling8 all-time · 1981
  • Jones8 all-time · 1974
  • Bertram Drilling Inc6 all-time · 2013

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 59343

Montana DNRC lists 678 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 294 groundwater and 384 surface water, 669 of them active. The median priority date is 1950, and the oldest claim dates to 1883.

Types of right

  • Powder River Declaration593
  • Ground Water Certificate71
  • Provisional Permit5
  • Stockwater Permit3
  • Statement Of Claim3

Purposes

  • Stock402
  • Irrigation182
  • Domestic; Stock36
  • Domestic23
  • Irrigation; Stock22

DNRC basins

  • 42J676
  • 42C2

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 59343 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.)205 wells · 78% · median 150 ft
  • Tongue River Member (of Ft Union Fm.)51 wells · 19% · median 132 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.