Montana WaterReport
Check a property

Montana water data · Zip Code in Hill County

ZIP 59540: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59540: 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 534 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)

Wells on record

205

0.5 per sq mi

Median well depth

119 ft

half of wells 28–185 ft

Median static water level

60 ft

143 measurements

Median tested yield

8 gpm

133 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in ZIP 59540?

Of 188 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 119 feet. Half were drilled between 28 and 185 feet; one in ten went deeper than 327 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
31%
50–100 ft
10%
100–200 ft
35%
200–300 ft
11%
300–500 ft
5%
500 ft and deeper
7%

Static water level

60 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 20 and 102 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

8 gpm

median tested yield · half between 4 and 14 gpm

30% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 17% 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 59540

8 wells have been completed here since 2016, 1 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed February 4, 2026. Records run back to 1900.

What the wells are for

  • Stockwater115
  • Domestic95
  • Monitoring39
  • Unused14
  • Public Water Supply10

How they were drilled

  • Unknown37
  • Cable11
  • Rotary11
  • Churn5

Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59540

  • Montana Salinity Control Association4 since 2016 · 2016
  • West Central Environmental Consultants4 since 2016 · 2024
  • Unknown23 all-time · 2000
  • Hi-line Drilling Inc20 all-time · 2005
  • Brown15 all-time · 2002
  • Mt Salinity13 all-time · 1991
  • Jacobson Drilling5 all-time · 1991

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 59540

Montana DNRC lists 317 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 107 groundwater and 210 surface water, 291 of them active. The median priority date is 1945, and the oldest claim dates to 1880.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim268
  • Ground Water Certificate23
  • Provisional Permit14
  • Reserved Claim6
  • Stockwater Permit5

Purposes

  • Stock204
  • Domestic44
  • Irrigation38
  • Domestic; Stock9
  • Multiple Domestic7

DNRC basins

  • 40G149
  • 41P101
  • 40F63
  • 40H4

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 59540 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)16 wells · 62% · median 118 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 59540

Petroleum releases

5

1 open · 4 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

7

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 1997. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.