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Montana water data · Zip Code in Chouteau County

ZIP 59442: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59442: 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 1,651 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)

Wells on record

563

0.7 per sq mi

Median well depth

38 ft

half of wells 25–66 ft

Median static water level

20 ft

390 measurements

Median tested yield

10 gpm

281 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in ZIP 59442?

Of 479 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 38 feet. Half were drilled between 25 and 66 feet; one in ten went deeper than 160 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 20 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
69%
50–100 ft
11%
100–200 ft
13%
200–300 ft
5%
300–500 ft
1%
500 ft and deeper
1%

Static water level

20 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 12 and 35 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 4 and 23 gpm

28% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 34% 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 59442

68 wells have been completed here since 2016, 2 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed March 25, 2026. Records run back to 1900.

What the wells are for

  • Stockwater224
  • Domestic177
  • Monitoring168
  • Test Well63
  • Irrigation49

How they were drilled

  • Unknown74
  • Solid Stem Auger60
  • Rotary50
  • Scs Drill48

Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59442

  • Montana Salinity Control Association39 since 2016 · 2024
  • Aquasource Drilling Llc14 since 2016 · 2026
  • Hi-line Drilling Inc3 since 2016 · 2021
  • Aquasource Inc Llc3 since 2016 · 2022
  • Haz Tech Drilling Inc3 since 2016 · 2017
  • Boland Drilling1 since 2016 · 2017
  • Unknown123 all-time · 1973
  • Horizontal4 all-time · 1974

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 59442

Montana DNRC lists 1,019 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 319 groundwater and 700 surface water, 929 of them active. The median priority date is 1946, and the oldest claim dates to 1870.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim853
  • Ground Water Certificate90
  • Provisional Permit35
  • Stockwater Permit22
  • Exempt Notice9

Purposes

  • Stock720
  • Irrigation97
  • Domestic58
  • Multiple Domestic29
  • Lawn And Garden21

DNRC basins

  • 41Q391
  • 41P314
  • 41O152
  • 41T132
  • 41R30

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 59442 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.

  • Glacial Drift59 wells · 66% · median 33 ft
  • Alluvium (quaternary)10 wells · 11% · median 30 ft
  • Colorado Shale Or Fm. (of Colorado Group)8 wells · 9% · median 36 ft
  • Eagle Sandstone6 wells · 7% · median 125 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 59442

Petroleum releases

24

3 open · 21 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

45

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.