Montana water data · Zip Code in Cascade County
ZIP 59480: well depth, groundwater and water rights
What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59480: 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 694 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)
Wells on record
163
1.1 per sq mi
Median well depth
137 ft
half of wells 60–235 ft
Median static water level
60 ft
117 measurements
Median tested yield
11 gpm
116 pump tests
Well depth
How deep are wells in ZIP 59480?
Of 148 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 137 feet. Half were drilled between 60 and 235 feet; one in ten went deeper than 670 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 34 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.
Static water level
60 ft
median depth to water at rest · half between 30 and 166 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
11 gpm
median tested yield · half between 5 and 22 gpm
19% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 36% 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 59480
23 wells have been completed here since 2016, 1 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed May 19, 2026. Records run back to 1883.
What the wells are for
- Domestic77
- Stockwater71
- Monitoring12
- Public Water Supply9
- Unused6
How they were drilled
- Rotary62
- Cable10
- Air Rotary6
- Unknown3
Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59480
- Aquasource Drilling Llc9 since 2016 · 2025
- Boland Drilling5 since 2016 · 2025
- Aquasource Inc Llc3 since 2016 · 2021
- Pat Byrne Drilling Inc3 since 2016 · 2025
- Byrne27 all-time · 2003
- Gordon Drilling Inc9 all-time · 1995
- Franklin5 all-time · 1979
- Poverty Drilling5 all-time · 2001
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 59480
Montana DNRC lists 526 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 224 groundwater and 302 surface water, 506 of them active. The median priority date is 1937, and the oldest claim dates to 1880.
Types of right
- Statement Of Claim394
- Ground Water Certificate93
- Exempt Notice28
- Stockwater Permit10
- Provisional Permit1
Purposes
- Stock419
- Domestic42
- Multiple Domestic24
- Domestic; Stock17
- Domestic; Lawn And Garden; Stock5
DNRC basins
- 41QJ405
- 41J116
- 41Q5
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 59480 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 Formation72 wells · 50% · median 104 ft
- Madison Group Or Limestone38 wells · 26% · median 328 ft
- Morrison Formation11 wells · 8% · median 168 ft
- Ellis Group5 wells · 3% · median 101 ft
- Swift Formation (of Ellis Group)5 wells · 3% · median 200 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 59480
Petroleum releases
1
0 open · 1 resolved
Superfund program sites
0
none on the National Priorities List
Registered tank facilities
4
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 1990. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.