Montana water data · Zip Code in Ravalli County
ZIP 59840: well depth, groundwater and water rights
What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59840: 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 13,747 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)
Wells on record
5,968
11.1 per sq mi
Median well depth
56 ft
half of wells 39–113 ft
Median static water level
20 ft
5,406 measurements
Median tested yield
20 gpm
5,577 pump tests
Well depth
How deep are wells in ZIP 59840?
Of 5,784 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 56 feet. Half were drilled between 39 and 113 feet; one in ten went deeper than 200 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 32 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
20 ft
median depth to water at rest · half between 11 and 47 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 35 gpm
6% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 56% 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 59840
647 wells have been completed here since 2016, 47 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed September 3, 2026. Records run back to 1864.
What the wells are for
- Domestic4,973
- Irrigation717
- Stockwater305
- Public Water Supply95
- Monitoring53
How they were drilled
- Rotary2,730
- Cable1,132
- Forward Rotary496
- Churn239
Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59840
- Eslinger Drilling & Pump Service293 since 2016 · 2026
- Aqwa Drilling Llc167 since 2016 · 2025
- Ravalli Drilling Inc51 since 2016 · 2024
- Eagle Drilling And Pump Service45 since 2016 · 2026
- Western Montana Drilling Co.20 since 2016 · 2026
- Jeromes Drilling Co13 since 2016 · 2025
- Camp Well Drilling And Pump Service13 since 2016 · 2024
- S & S Well Drilling, Llc13 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 59840
Montana DNRC lists 7,699 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 4,804 groundwater and 2,895 surface water, 6,875 of them active. The median priority date is 1978, and the oldest claim dates to 1864.
Types of right
- Ground Water Certificate4,038
- Statement Of Claim3,224
- Exempt Notice261
- Provisional Permit144
- 62-73 Ground Water Record18
Purposes
- Irrigation2,013
- Domestic1,976
- Stock1,062
- Domestic; Lawn And Garden904
- Lawn And Garden257
DNRC basins
- 76H7,698
- 76E1
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 59840 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.
- Sediments (tertiary)249 wells · 29% · median 140 ft
- Alluvium (holocene)148 wells · 17% · median 40 ft
- Idaho Batholith66 wells · 8% · median 222 ft
- Alluvium (quaternary)64 wells · 7% · median 43 ft
- Sand And Gravel (tertiary)64 wells · 7% · median 100 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 59840
Petroleum releases
34
1 open · 33 resolved
Superfund program sites
0
none on the National Priorities List
Registered tank facilities
46
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 2024. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.