Montana WaterReport
Check a property

Montana water data · Zip Code in Fergus County

ZIP 59489: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59489: 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 1,618 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)

Wells on record

286

0.5 per sq mi

Median well depth

123 ft

half of wells 28–371 ft

Median static water level

30 ft

211 measurements

Median tested yield

10 gpm

172 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in ZIP 59489?

Of 272 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 123 feet. Half were drilled between 28 and 371 feet; one in ten went deeper than 525 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 18 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
43%
50–100 ft
4%
100–200 ft
9%
200–300 ft
11%
300–500 ft
21%
500 ft and deeper
13%

Static water level

30 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 12 and 100 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

10 gpm

median tested yield · half between 5 and 15 gpm

20% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 20% 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 59489

115 wells have been completed here since 2016. The newest log on file was completed July 23, 2025. Records run back to 1912.

What the wells are for

  • Stockwater143
  • Monitoring92
  • Domestic84
  • Irrigation6
  • Public Water Supply6

How they were drilled

  • Solid Stem Auger92
  • Rotary91
  • Forward Rotary25
  • Cable5

Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59489

  • Montana Salinity Control Association92 since 2016 · 2021
  • Central Drilling Inc21 since 2016 · 2025
  • Singley Drilling31 all-time · 2000
  • Sure Water Drilling11 all-time · 1979
  • Debuff Drilling7 all-time · 1993
  • Ak Drilling Inc7 all-time · 2004
  • Unknown5 all-time · 1969
  • Jennings Drilling Co5 all-time · 1982

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 59489

Montana DNRC lists 1,314 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 252 groundwater and 1,062 surface water, 1,260 of them active. The median priority date is 1955, and the oldest claim dates to 1878.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim1,011
  • Ground Water Certificate124
  • Stockwater Permit121
  • Provisional Permit39
  • Exempt Notice13

Purposes

  • Stock1,021
  • Wildlife114
  • Irrigation53
  • Domestic29
  • Domestic; Stock28

DNRC basins

  • 41T748
  • 40EJ418
  • 41S147
  • 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 59489 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.

  • Judith River Formation (of Montana Group)40 wells · 74% · median 386 ft
  • Eagle Sandstone10 wells · 19% · median 1,444 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 59489

Petroleum releases

7

2 open · 5 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

11

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 2009. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.