Montana water data · Zip Code in Sanders County
ZIP 59853: well depth, groundwater and water rights
What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59853: 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 811 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)
Wells on record
356
1.2 per sq mi
Median well depth
140 ft
half of wells 60–280 ft
Median static water level
69 ft
316 measurements
Median tested yield
25 gpm
316 pump tests
Well depth
How deep are wells in ZIP 59853?
Of 343 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 140 feet. Half were drilled between 60 and 280 feet; one in ten went deeper than 405 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 34 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
69 ft
median depth to water at rest · half between 25 and 150 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
25 gpm
median tested yield · half between 15 and 40 gpm
4% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 68% 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 59853
75 wells have been completed here since 2016, 1 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed October 22, 2025. Records run back to 1915.
What the wells are for
- Domestic298
- Monitoring16
- Stockwater9
- Public Water Supply8
- Irrigation5
How they were drilled
- Rotary186
- Cable71
- Churn10
- Air/rotary8
Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59853
- Universal Drilling35 since 2016 · 2025
- North Star Drilling Inc12 since 2016 · 2024
- Universal Drilling Llc7 since 2016 · 2025
- North West Drilling6 since 2016 · 2024
- North Star Drilling Inc.3 since 2016 · 2025
- Williams Well Drilling25 all-time · 2014
- Phil Lewis Drilling21 all-time · 2009
- Kane Well Drilling & Pump Service17 all-time · 2005
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 59853
Montana DNRC lists 436 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 330 groundwater and 106 surface water, 394 of them active. The median priority date is 1981, and the oldest claim dates to 1882.
Types of right
- Ground Water Certificate231
- Statement Of Claim152
- Provisional Permit38
- Exempt Notice13
- Compact1
Purposes
- Domestic184
- Domestic; Lawn And Garden53
- Stock31
- Irrigation25
- Domestic; Stock16
DNRC basins
- 76N434
- 76D2
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 59853 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.
- Glacial Drift18 wells · 44% · median 257 ft
- Alluvium (quaternary)8 wells · 20% · median 112 ft
- Alluvium (pleistocene)5 wells · 12% · median 137 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 59853
Petroleum releases
7
1 open · 6 resolved
Superfund program sites
0
none on the National Priorities List
Registered tank facilities
12
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 2000. A property report screens the sites within a quarter, half and one mile of a specific parcel and links the agency records.