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Montana water data · Zip Code in Lewis and Clark County

ZIP 59602: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59602: 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 20,513 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA SEMS, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)

Wells on record

10,544

20.1 per sq mi

Median well depth

112 ft

half of wells 66–200 ft

Median static water level

40 ft

9,923 measurements

Median tested yield

23 gpm

9,780 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in ZIP 59602?

Of 10,223 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 112 feet. Half were drilled between 66 and 200 feet; one in ten went deeper than 365 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 47 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
11%
50–100 ft
31%
100–200 ft
31%
200–300 ft
11%
300–500 ft
10%
500 ft and deeper
5%

Static water level

40 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 19 and 80 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

23 gpm

median tested yield · half between 15 and 35 gpm

3% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 69% 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 59602

1,509 wells have been completed here since 2016, 111 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed September 15, 2026. Records run back to 1864.

What the wells are for

  • Domestic9,031
  • Irrigation464
  • Stockwater452
  • Monitoring257
  • Public Water Supply184

How they were drilled

  • Rotary5,830
  • Cable1,363
  • Air Rotary1,158
  • Churn269

Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59602

  • H & L Drilling Inc642 since 2016 · 2026
  • A-10 Drilling403 since 2016 · 2026
  • Western Water Wells191 since 2016 · 2026
  • Aaaa Water Well Drilling Inc108 since 2016 · 2026
  • Lindsay Drilling Co Inc76 since 2016 · 2026
  • Lindsay Drilling Co36 since 2016 · 2026
  • Okeefe Drilling Co32 since 2016 · 2026
  • Yellow Jacket Drilling Services Llc9 since 2016 · 2024

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 59602

Montana DNRC lists 9,865 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 8,790 groundwater and 1,075 surface water, 8,821 of them active. The median priority date is 1997, and the oldest claim dates to 1858.

Types of right

  • Ground Water Certificate7,307
  • Statement Of Claim1,651
  • Provisional Permit485
  • Exempt Notice342
  • 62-73 Ground Water Record34

Purposes

  • Domestic3,724
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden2,294
  • Stock727
  • Irrigation705
  • Domestic; Lawn And Garden; Stock343

DNRC basins

  • 41I9,814
  • 41QJ45
  • 41J4
  • 76G2

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 59602 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.

  • Alluvium (quaternary)1,545 wells · 62% · median 51 ft
  • Spokane Shale210 wells · 8% · median 137 ft
  • Sediments (tertiary)203 wells · 8% · median 103 ft
  • Alluvium (holocene)135 wells · 5% · median 62 ft
  • Helena Dolomite119 wells · 5% · median 158 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 59602

Petroleum releases

51

4 open · 47 resolved

Superfund program sites

1

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

52

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 2025. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.