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Montana water data · Zip Code in Sanders County

ZIP 59848: well depth, groundwater and water rights

What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59848: 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 204 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)

Wells on record

93

3.1 per sq mi

Median well depth

308 ft

half of wells 254–323 ft

Median static water level

75 ft

71 measurements

Median tested yield

30 gpm

63 pump tests

Well depth

How deep are wells in ZIP 59848?

Of 72 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 308 feet. Half were drilled between 254 and 323 feet; one in ten went deeper than 377 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 70 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
8%
50–100 ft
3%
100–200 ft
8%
200–300 ft
17%
300–500 ft
60%
500 ft and deeper
4%

Static water level

75 ft

median depth to water at rest · half between 50 and 93 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

30 gpm

median tested yield · half between 10 and 83 gpm

13% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 60% 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 59848

11 wells have been completed here since 2016, 2 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed July 31, 2026. Records run back to 1914.

What the wells are for

  • Domestic70
  • Stockwater43
  • Irrigation16
  • Unused4

How they were drilled

  • Rotary30
  • Cable3
  • Forward Rotary3
  • Churn2

Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59848

  • Oh Well Drilling And Pump7 since 2016 · 2026
  • Oh Well Drilling & Pump3 since 2016 · 2019
  • Ace Drilling1 since 2016 · 2023
  • Allwest Drilling Inc7 all-time · 2014
  • Camp Well Drilling4 all-time · 1993
  • Kane Well Drilling & Pump Service4 all-time · 2001
  • Liberty Drilling & Pump Co4 all-time · 1997

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 59848

Montana DNRC lists 109 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 67 groundwater and 42 surface water, 83 of them active. The median priority date is 1947, and the oldest claim dates to 1855.

Types of right

  • Statement Of Claim63
  • Registration Certificate18
  • Ground Water Certificate9
  • Domestic Allowance8
  • Exempt Notice4

Purposes

  • Stock29
  • Irrigation28
  • Domestic15
  • Multiple Domestic4
  • Fish And Wildlife4

DNRC basins

  • 76L109

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 59848 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.

  • Lonepine Aquifer (little Bitterroot Valley)44 wells · 69% · median 311 ft
  • Alluvium (pleistocene)6 wells · 9% · median 102 ft
  • Glacial Drift5 wells · 8% · median 106 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 59848

Petroleum releases

0

0 open · 0 resolved

Superfund program sites

0

none on the National Priorities List

Registered tank facilities

2

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