Montana water data · Zip Code in Lincoln County
ZIP 59917: well depth, groundwater and water rights
What the public record says about water in ZIP code 59917: 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 3,701 public records from MBMG GWIC, Montana DNRC, Montana DEQ, EPA UST Finder, US Census (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)
Wells on record
1,833
7.5 per sq mi
Median well depth
220 ft
half of wells 140–321 ft
Median static water level
102 ft
1,732 measurements
Median tested yield
25 gpm
1,723 pump tests
Well depth
How deep are wells in ZIP 59917?
Of 1,802 wells with a recorded total depth, the median is 220 feet. Half were drilled between 140 and 321 feet; one in ten went deeper than 440 feet and one in ten found water shallower than 80 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
102 ft
median depth to water at rest · half between 55 and 152 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
2% of tested wells produced under 5 gallons per minute and 64% 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 59917
453 wells have been completed here since 2016, 35 of them in the last twelve months. The newest log on file was completed September 22, 2026. Records run back to 1902.
What the wells are for
- Domestic1,630
- Public Water Supply54
- Monitoring41
- Irrigation39
- Stockwater32
How they were drilled
- Rotary1,368
- Forward Rotary115
- Air Rotary81
- Cable50
Drillers filing well logs in ZIP 59917
- Davis Brothers Drilling257 since 2016 · 2026
- Post Pump And Drilling Llc60 since 2016 · 2023
- Joe Liss Water Wells, Inc.48 since 2016 · 2018
- Post Pump & Drilling Llc28 since 2016 · 2024
- Water Resource Services15 since 2016 · 2026
- West Central Environmental Consultants14 since 2016 · 2026
- Stinger Drilling9 since 2016 · 2023
- Certified Well And Pump8 since 2016 · 2022
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 59917
Montana DNRC lists 1,837 water rights with a point of diversion inside this area: 1,450 groundwater and 387 surface water, 1,732 of them active. The median priority date is 1995, and the oldest claim dates to 1884.
Types of right
- Ground Water Certificate1,278
- Statement Of Claim451
- Provisional Permit85
- Exempt Notice22
- Compact1
Purposes
- Domestic615
- Domestic; Lawn And Garden310
- Stock167
- Irrigation166
- Domestic; Stock77
DNRC basins
- 76D1,837
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 59917 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 Drift657 wells · 59% · median 200 ft
- Belt Supergroup353 wells · 32% · median 300 ft
- Alluvium (quaternary)38 wells · 3% · median 30 ft
- Ravalli Group20 wells · 2% · median 240 ft
- Terrace Deposits (pleistocene)13 wells · 1% · median 45 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 59917
Petroleum releases
15
3 open · 12 resolved
Superfund program sites
0
none on the National Priorities List
Registered tank facilities
16
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.