Montana water data · Zip Code in Cascade County

ZIP 59401: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59401: 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 229 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)

Wells on record

100

33.8 per sq mi

Median well depth

20 ft

half of wells 15–31 ft

Median static water level

13 ft

37 measurements

Median tested yield

23 gpm

18 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in ZIP 59401?

Of 71 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 20 feet. Half were drilled between 15 and 31 feet; one in ten went deeper than 270 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 11 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
77%
50–100 ft
3%
100–200 ft
6%
200–300 ft
4%
300–500 ft
6%
500 ft and deeper
4%

Static water level

13 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 9 and 42 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

23 gpm

median tested yield · half between 7 and 80 gpm

22% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 61% 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 59401

10 wells have been completed here since 2016, 1 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed October 10, 2025. Records run back to 1943.

What the wells are for

  • Monitoring77
  • Domestic6
  • Industrial3
  • Stockwater3
  • Public Water Supply2

How they were drilled

  • Solid Stem Auger20
  • Hollowstem Auger18
  • Rotary9
  • Hollow Stem Auger8

Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59401

  • Montana Salinity Control Association8 since 2016 · 2017
  • Okeefe Drilling Co1 since 2016 · 2019
  • Boland Drilling30 all-time · 2014
  • Delta6 all-time · 1996
  • Chen-northern5 all-time · 1996
  • Hansen Environmental Drilling4 all-time · 1998
  • Erickson Drilling & Pump Co4 all-time · 2000
  • Cni-clint3 all-time · 1989

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 59401

Montana DNRC lists 10 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 6 groundwater and 4 surface water, 8 of them active. The median priority date is 1982, and the oldest claim dates to 1923.

Types of right

  • Ground Water Certificate3
  • Provisional Permit3
  • Statement Of Claim3
  • Water Reservation1

Purposes

  • Geothermal2
  • Industrial2
  • Domestic1
  • Fishery1
  • Irrigation1

DNRC basins

  • 41Q9
  • 41QJ1

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 59401 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.

  • Kootenai Formation9 wells · 47% · median 140 ft
  • Madison Group Or Limestone6 wells · 32% · median 470 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 59401

Petroleum releases

53

16 open · 37 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

66

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 2019. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.

59401 Well Depth & Groundwater Data | Montana Water Report