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Montana water data · Zip Code in Fergus County

ZIP 59430: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59430: 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 1,421 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)

Wells on record

347

0.7 per sq mi

Median well depth

30 ft

half of wells 18–131 ft

Median static water level

14 ft

191 measurements

Median tested yield

10 gpm

176 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in ZIP 59430?

Of 294 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 30 feet. Half were drilled between 18 and 131 feet; one in ten went deeper than 1,440 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 13 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
61%
50–100 ft
9%
100–200 ft
7%
200–300 ft
5%
300–500 ft
4%
500 ft and deeper
14%

Static water level

14 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 7 and 30 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 25 gpm

25% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 39% 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 59430

41 wells have been completed here since 2016, 1 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed May 15, 2026. Records run back to 1880.

What the wells are for

  • Stockwater153
  • Monitoring133
  • Domestic98
  • Irrigation26
  • Research15

How they were drilled

  • Rotary69
  • Solid Stem Auger30
  • Unknown25
  • Hand Dug21

Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59430

  • Montana Salinity Control Association30 since 2016 · 2020
  • Thomas, Dean, And Hoskins, Inc.6 since 2016 · 2017
  • Singley Drilling3 since 2016 · 2024
  • Central Drilling Inc3 since 2016 · 2026
  • Ak Drilling Inc1 since 2016 · 2017
  • Unknown38 all-time · 1972
  • Mt Salinity33 all-time · 1992
  • Thatcher Drilling Co15 all-time · 1984

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 59430

Montana DNRC lists 1,039 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 453 groundwater and 586 surface water, 995 of them active. The median priority date is 1942, and the oldest claim dates to 1878.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim765
  • Ground Water Certificate165
  • Provisional Permit49
  • Stockwater Permit30
  • Exempt Notice21

Purposes

  • Stock795
  • Domestic64
  • Irrigation46
  • Domestic; Stock20
  • Wildlife13

DNRC basins

  • 41S843
  • 41R178
  • 41T15
  • 40B1
  • 40EJ1

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 59430 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 Formation10 wells · 19% · median 1,813 ft
  • Eagle Sandstone9 wells · 17% · median 80 ft
  • Colorado Shale Or Fm. (of Colorado Group)5 wells · 10% · median 19 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 59430

Petroleum releases

15

4 open · 11 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 2014. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.