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Montana water data · Zip Code in Hill County

ZIP 59501: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59501: 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 6,089 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)

Wells on record

2,100

1.6 per sq mi

Median well depth

91 ft

half of wells 35–160 ft

Median static water level

29 ft

1,564 measurements

Median tested yield

15 gpm

1,433 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in ZIP 59501?

Of 1,856 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 91 feet. Half were drilled between 35 and 160 feet; one in ten went deeper than 220 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
32%
50–100 ft
21%
100–200 ft
32%
200–300 ft
9%
300–500 ft
4%
500 ft and deeper
1%

Static water level

29 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 13 and 70 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

15 gpm

median tested yield · half between 9 and 26 gpm

11% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 40% 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 59501

140 wells have been completed here since 2016, 1 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed April 3, 2026. Records run back to 1895.

What the wells are for

  • Domestic1,122
  • Monitoring458
  • Stockwater433
  • Irrigation76
  • Public Water Supply40

How they were drilled

  • Cable537
  • Rotary341
  • Hollow Stem Auger165
  • Unknown108

Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59501

  • Hi-line Drilling Inc69 since 2016 · 2025
  • Montana Salinity Control Association52 since 2016 · 2025
  • Jacobson Drilling11 since 2016 · 2024
  • Water & Environmental Technologies6 since 2016 · 2023
  • Boland Drilling3 since 2016 · 2024
  • Aquasource Drilling Llc3 since 2016 · 2026
  • Esd Inc97 all-time · 2002
  • Simpson55 all-time · 1978

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 59501

Montana DNRC lists 3,786 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 1,567 groundwater and 2,219 surface water, 3,374 of them active. The median priority date is 1958, and the oldest claim dates to 1885.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim2,577
  • Ground Water Certificate910
  • Provisional Permit137
  • Stockwater Permit99
  • Exempt Notice55

Purposes

  • Stock2,070
  • Domestic432
  • Irrigation421
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden215
  • Multiple Domestic106

DNRC basins

  • 40J3,069
  • 40F378
  • 40H325
  • 41T14

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 59501 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)52 wells · 49% · median 215 ft
  • Alluvium (quaternary)24 wells · 23% · median 48 ft
  • Alluvium (pleistocene)9 wells · 8% · median 169 ft
  • Glacial Drift9 wells · 8% · median 39 ft
  • Glacial Outwash (pleistocene)6 wells · 6% · median 145 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 59501

Petroleum releases

96

19 open · 77 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

107

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 2020. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.