Montana water data · Zip Code in Cascade County
ZIP 59487: well depth, groundwater and water rights
What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59487: 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 807 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)
Wells on record
357
6.5 per sq mi
Median well depth
85 ft
half of wells 46–115 ft
Median static water level
16 ft
305 measurements
Median tested yield
20 gpm
311 pump tests
Well depth
How deep are wells in ZIP 59487?
Of 339 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 85 feet. Half were drilled between 46 and 115 feet; one in ten went deeper than 140 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 24 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
16 ft
median depth to water at rest · half between 10 and 30 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
20 gpm
median tested yield · half between 8 and 35 gpm
13% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 57% 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 59487
43 wells have been completed here since 2016, 4 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed July 9, 2026. Records run back to 1873.
What the wells are for
- Domestic273
- Stockwater78
- Irrigation19
- Monitoring17
- Other4
How they were drilled
- Rotary96
- Cable65
- Churn26
- Cable Tool19
Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59487
- Aquasource Drilling Llc22 since 2016 · 2026
- Hl Ventures Llc6 since 2016 · 2024
- Boland Drilling3 since 2016 · 2023
- Pat Byrne Drilling Inc2 since 2016 · 2018
- Aquasource Inc Llc2 since 2016 · 2022
- Mt Poverty Water Well Drilling1 since 2016 · 2017
- Byrne88 all-time · 2003
- Poverty Drilling32 all-time · 2009
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 59487
Montana DNRC lists 435 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 293 groundwater and 142 surface water, 403 of them active. The median priority date is 1978, and the oldest claim dates to 1873.
Types of right
- Ground Water Certificate214
- Statement Of Claim167
- Provisional Permit39
- Stockwater Permit8
- Exempt Notice5
Purposes
- Stock120
- Domestic92
- Irrigation53
- Domestic; Stock39
- Domestic; Lawn And Garden26
DNRC basins
- 41K435
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 59487 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 Great Falls Lake Sediments104 wells · 33% · median 109 ft
- Sand And Gravel (pleistocene)80 wells · 25% · median 72 ft
- Blackleaf Formation (of Colorado Group)31 wells · 10% · median 90 ft
- Terrace Deposits (pleistocene)24 wells · 8% · median 39 ft
- Alluvium (quaternary)21 wells · 7% · median 64 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 59487
Petroleum releases
7
1 open · 6 resolved
Superfund program sites
0
none on the National Priorities List
Registered tank facilities
8
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.