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Montana water data · Zip Code in Lewis and Clark County

ZIP 59601: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59601: 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 3,853 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA SEMS, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)

Wells on record

1,937

14.9 per sq mi

Median well depth

122 ft

half of wells 48–225 ft

Median static water level

39 ft

1,624 measurements

Median tested yield

20 gpm

1,446 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in ZIP 59601?

Of 1,824 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 122 feet. Half were drilled between 48 and 225 feet; one in ten went deeper than 359 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 26 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
25%
50–100 ft
15%
100–200 ft
27%
200–300 ft
16%
300–500 ft
13%
500 ft and deeper
4%

Static water level

39 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 20 and 67 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 10 and 30 gpm

6% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 52% 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 59601

211 wells have been completed here since 2016, 6 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed May 18, 2026. Records run back to 1865.

What the wells are for

  • Domestic1,181
  • Monitoring404
  • Irrigation190
  • Stockwater67
  • Public Water Supply34

How they were drilled

  • Rotary707
  • Air Rotary430
  • Cable100
  • Hollowstem Auger87

Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59601

  • H & L Drilling Inc45 since 2016 · 2026
  • Cascade Drilling Lp42 since 2016 · 2020
  • A-10 Drilling34 since 2016 · 2026
  • Okeefe Drilling Co28 since 2016 · 2025
  • Lindsay Drilling Co Inc15 since 2016 · 2025
  • Western Water Wells14 since 2016 · 2024
  • Yellow Jacket Drilling Services Llc14 since 2016 · 2024
  • Aaaa Water Well Drilling Inc10 since 2016 · 2025

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 59601

Montana DNRC lists 1,607 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 1,308 groundwater and 299 surface water, 1,458 of them active. The median priority date is 1984, and the oldest claim dates to 1858.

Types of right

  • Ground Water Certificate1,004
  • Statement Of Claim511
  • Exempt Notice63
  • Provisional Permit22
  • Water Reservation3

Purposes

  • Domestic592
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden193
  • Lawn And Garden156
  • Irrigation154
  • Stock149

DNRC basins

  • 41I1,607

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 59601 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.

  • Plutonic Rocks (upper Cretaceous)87 wells · 22% · median 80 ft
  • Helena Dolomite73 wells · 18% · median 150 ft
  • Sediments (tertiary)55 wells · 14% · median 105 ft
  • Alluvium (quaternary)51 wells · 13% · median 40 ft
  • Marsh Formation (of Missoula Group)46 wells · 12% · median 141 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 59601

Petroleum releases

139

37 open · 102 resolved

Superfund program sites

4

1 on or proposed for the NPL

Registered tank facilities

166

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 2026. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.