Montana WaterReport
Check a property

Montana water data · Zip Code in Fergus County

ZIP 59451: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59451: 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 1,194 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)

Wells on record

263

1.1 per sq mi

Median well depth

130 ft

half of wells 45–280 ft

Median static water level

26 ft

220 measurements

Median tested yield

12 gpm

203 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in ZIP 59451?

Of 253 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 130 feet. Half were drilled between 45 and 280 feet; one in ten went deeper than 476 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 17 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
26%
50–100 ft
14%
100–200 ft
25%
200–300 ft
11%
300–500 ft
15%
500 ft and deeper
9%

Static water level

26 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 12 and 60 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 7 and 20 gpm

13% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 33% 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 59451

51 wells have been completed here since 2016. The newest log on file was completed August 29, 2025. Records run back to 1900.

What the wells are for

  • Stockwater169
  • Domestic124
  • Monitoring29
  • Irrigation9
  • Fire Protection1

How they were drilled

  • Rotary95
  • Unknown22
  • Forward Rotary21
  • Solid Stem Auger16

Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59451

  • Central Drilling Inc19 since 2016 · 2025
  • Montana Salinity Control Association16 since 2016 · 2019
  • Haz Tech Drilling Inc13 since 2016 · 2020
  • Singley Drilling1 since 2016 · 2022
  • Unknown30 all-time · 1966
  • Debuff Drilling10 all-time · 1990
  • Jennings Drilling Co10 all-time · 2005
  • Van Dyken Drilling Inc8 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 59451

Montana DNRC lists 921 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 288 groundwater and 633 surface water, 843 of them active. The median priority date is 1951, and the oldest claim dates to 1870.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim677
  • Ground Water Certificate159
  • Stockwater Permit50
  • Provisional Permit20
  • Exempt Notice14

Purposes

  • Stock646
  • Irrigation92
  • Domestic52
  • Domestic; Stock24
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden; Stock17

DNRC basins

  • 41S353
  • 41T346
  • 40EJ220
  • 40B2

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 59451 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.

  • Eagle Sandstone12 wells · 52% · median 591 ft
  • Judith River Formation (of Montana Group)11 wells · 48% · median 230 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 59451

Petroleum releases

4

1 open · 3 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

6

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 2008. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.