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Montana water data · Zip Code in Chouteau County

ZIP 59520: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59520: 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 2,972 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)

Wells on record

649

0.6 per sq mi

Median well depth

90 ft

half of wells 28–180 ft

Median static water level

27 ft

479 measurements

Median tested yield

10 gpm

456 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in ZIP 59520?

Of 572 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 90 feet. Half were drilled between 28 and 180 feet; one in ten went deeper than 389 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
39%
50–100 ft
13%
100–200 ft
24%
200–300 ft
9%
300–500 ft
8%
500 ft and deeper
6%

Static water level

27 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 12 and 89 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 16 gpm

21% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 24% 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 59520

58 wells have been completed here since 2016. The newest log on file was completed June 30, 2025. Records run back to 1885.

What the wells are for

  • Stockwater387
  • Domestic255
  • Monitoring87
  • Irrigation40
  • Unused24

How they were drilled

  • Unknown123
  • Rotary76
  • Forward Rotary52
  • Cable38

Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59520

  • Montana Salinity Control Association29 since 2016 · 2024
  • Hi-line Drilling Inc12 since 2016 · 2025
  • Thomas, Dean, And Hoskins, Inc.6 since 2016 · 2025
  • Haz Tech Drilling Inc5 since 2016 · 2017
  • Boland Drilling2 since 2016 · 2025
  • Jacobson Drilling1 since 2016 · 2019
  • Unknown151 all-time · 1975
  • Keup38 all-time · 1958

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 59520

Montana DNRC lists 2,282 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 714 groundwater and 1,568 surface water, 1,993 of them active. The median priority date is 1948, and the oldest claim dates to 1880.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim1,947
  • Ground Water Certificate194
  • Provisional Permit69
  • Stockwater Permit51
  • Exempt Notice11

Purposes

  • Stock1,620
  • Irrigation328
  • Domestic129
  • Wildlife41
  • Multiple Domestic36

DNRC basins

  • 41T1,673
  • 40H604
  • 41R2
  • 41P1
  • 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 59520 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)61 wells · 25% · median 148 ft
  • Alluvium (quaternary)57 wells · 23% · median 44 ft
  • Glacial Drift53 wells · 22% · median 26 ft
  • Eagle Sandstone36 wells · 15% · median 411 ft
  • Virgelle Sandstone Member (of Eagle Sandstone)14 wells · 6% · median 500 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 59520

Petroleum releases

13

6 open · 7 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

28

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 2017. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.