Montana water data · Zip Code in Lewis and Clark County
ZIP 59648: well depth, groundwater and water rights
What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59648: 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 2,703 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)
Wells on record
710
1 per sq mi
Median well depth
104 ft
half of wells 50–220 ft
Median static water level
26 ft
654 measurements
Median tested yield
17 gpm
656 pump tests
Well depth
How deep are wells in ZIP 59648?
Of 686 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 104 feet. Half were drilled between 50 and 220 feet; one in ten went deeper than 358 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 28 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.
Static water level
26 ft
median depth to water at rest · half between 10 and 68 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
17 gpm
median tested yield · half between 10 and 30 gpm
10% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 48% 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 59648
114 wells have been completed here since 2016, 5 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed August 11, 2026. Records run back to 1889.
What the wells are for
- Domestic555
- Stockwater110
- Public Water Supply33
- Monitoring16
- Irrigation16
How they were drilled
- Rotary385
- Air Rotary64
- Unknown63
- Cable47
Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59648
- Aaaa Water Well Drilling Inc27 since 2016 · 2024
- Western Water Wells27 since 2016 · 2025
- H & L Drilling Inc16 since 2016 · 2025
- Aquasource Drilling Llc14 since 2016 · 2026
- A-10 Drilling8 since 2016 · 2025
- Boland Drilling6 since 2016 · 2023
- Mt Poverty Water Well Drilling5 since 2016 · 2020
- Lindsay Drilling Co Inc3 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 59648
Montana DNRC lists 1,960 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 945 groundwater and 1,015 surface water, 1,856 of them active. The median priority date is 1944, and the oldest claim dates to 1858.
Types of right
- Statement Of Claim1,334
- Ground Water Certificate521
- Provisional Permit49
- Exempt Notice33
- Water Reservation13
Purposes
- Stock1,026
- Domestic384
- Irrigation230
- Domestic; Lawn And Garden76
- Lawn And Garden36
DNRC basins
- 41QJ936
- 41U694
- 41I325
- 41K5
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 59648 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)48 wells · 62% · median 40 ft
- Sediments (tertiary)10 wells · 13% · median 52 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 59648
Petroleum releases
14
2 open · 12 resolved
Superfund program sites
0
none on the National Priorities List
Registered tank facilities
19
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 2007. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.