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Montana water data · Zip Code in Fergus County

ZIP 59471: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59471: 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 2,774 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA SEMS, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)

Wells on record

359

0.3 per sq mi

Median well depth

276 ft

half of wells 50–1,328 ft

Median static water level

20 ft

197 measurements

Median tested yield

12 gpm

306 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in ZIP 59471?

Of 328 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 276 feet. Half were drilled between 50 and 1,328 feet; one in ten went deeper than 1,960 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
24%
50–100 ft
10%
100–200 ft
11%
200–300 ft
6%
300–500 ft
9%
500 ft and deeper
40%

Static water level

20 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 12 and 40 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 5 and 25 gpm

24% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 41% 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 59471

9 wells have been completed here since 2016. The newest log on file was completed July 19, 2025. Records run back to 1898.

What the wells are for

  • Stockwater281
  • Domestic106
  • Irrigation46
  • Public Water Supply5
  • Wildlife3

How they were drilled

  • Rotary129
  • Unknown53
  • Forward Rotary37
  • Dug14

Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59471

  • Central Drilling Inc7 since 2016 · 2025
  • Singley Drilling1 since 2016 · 2023
  • Unknown82 all-time · 1961
  • Thatcher Drilling Co18 all-time · 1983
  • Ak Drilling Inc18 all-time · 2012
  • Egore Drilling9 all-time · 1997
  • Joe Johnson Drilling8 all-time · 1999
  • Wellman & Munson Drilling7 all-time · 1961

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 59471

Montana DNRC lists 2,387 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 481 groundwater and 1,906 surface water, 2,157 of them active. The median priority date is 1952, and the oldest claim dates to 1880.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim1,928
  • Ground Water Certificate203
  • Stockwater Permit151
  • Provisional Permit64
  • Compact24

Purposes

  • Stock1,830
  • Irrigation201
  • Wildlife152
  • Domestic49
  • Domestic; Stock38

DNRC basins

  • 40B1,020
  • 40EJ720
  • 40C646
  • 41Q1

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 59471 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 Sandstone62 wells · 56% · median 1,920 ft
  • Judith River Formation (of Montana Group)37 wells · 34% · median 520 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 59471

Petroleum releases

6

2 open · 4 resolved

Superfund program sites

1

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

21

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 1999. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.