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Montana water data · Zip Code in Chouteau County

ZIP 59446: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59446: 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 1,787 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)

Wells on record

509

0.7 per sq mi

Median well depth

43 ft

half of wells 23–120 ft

Median static water level

34 ft

213 measurements

Median tested yield

8 gpm

223 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in ZIP 59446?

Of 470 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 43 feet. Half were drilled between 23 and 120 feet; one in ten went deeper than 440 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 16 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
55%
50–100 ft
15%
100–200 ft
12%
200–300 ft
4%
300–500 ft
5%
500 ft and deeper
9%

Static water level

34 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 10 and 79 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

8 gpm

median tested yield · half between 4 and 20 gpm

26% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 26% 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 59446

30 wells have been completed here since 2016. The newest log on file was completed September 19, 2022. Records run back to 1890.

What the wells are for

  • Monitoring222
  • Stockwater216
  • Domestic125
  • Research17
  • Irrigation17

How they were drilled

  • Auger97
  • Unknown56
  • Rotary54
  • Drilled24

Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59446

  • Montana Salinity Control Association11 since 2016 · 2022
  • Central Drilling Inc10 since 2016 · 2021
  • Aquasource Drilling Llc4 since 2016 · 2020
  • Dakota Tech3 since 2016 · 2017
  • Unknown101 all-time · 1973
  • Hi-line Drilling Inc35 all-time · 2007
  • Mt Bureau Of Mines & Geology23 all-time · 1985
  • Goldhahn20 all-time · 1983

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 59446

Montana DNRC lists 1,261 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 529 groundwater and 732 surface water, 1,166 of them active. The median priority date is 1944, and the oldest claim dates to 1870.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim1,015
  • Ground Water Certificate107
  • Stockwater Permit82
  • Provisional Permit48
  • Exempt Notice3

Purposes

  • Stock1,003
  • Irrigation71
  • Domestic66
  • Multiple Domestic28
  • Domestic; Stock15

DNRC basins

  • 41R1,020
  • 41T191
  • 41Q50

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 59446 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 Drift27 wells · 29% · median 40 ft
  • Eagle Sandstone26 wells · 28% · median 175 ft
  • Kootenai Formation14 wells · 15% · median 2,000 ft
  • Virgelle Sandstone Member (of Eagle Sandstone)8 wells · 9% · median 260 ft
  • Colorado Shale Or Fm. (of Colorado Group)7 wells · 8% · median 134 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 59446

Petroleum releases

4

1 open · 3 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

13

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 2002. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.