ZIP 59457: well depth, groundwater and water rights

Well depth

How deep are wells in ZIP 59457?

Of 1,813 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 135 feet. Half were drilled between 70 and 260 feet; one in ten went deeper than 430 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 33 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.

Drilling activity

Recent well drilling in ZIP 59457

230 wells have been completed here since 2016, 12 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed June 27, 2026. Records run back to 1865.

Water rights

Water rights on file in ZIP 59457

Montana DNRC lists 4,992 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 2,625 groundwater and 2,367 surface water, 4,604 of them active. The median priority date is 1950, and the oldest claim dates to 1873.

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 59457 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 Formation83 wells · 51% · median 260 ft
• Colorado Shale Or Fm. (of Colorado Group)20 wells · 12% · median 108 ft
• Morrison Formation11 wells · 7% · median 198 ft
• First Cat Creek Sandstone (base Of Colorado Gp)9 wells · 6% · median 320 ft
• Third Cat Creek Sandstone (basal Kootenai Fm)8 wells · 5% · median 558 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 59457

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 2021. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.