Definitions.
[42-230, added 1951, ch. 200, sec. 5, p. 423; am. 1970, ch. 187, sec. 3, p. 541; am. 1971, ch. 149, sec. 1, p. 739; am. 1980, ch. 209, sec. 1, p. 479; am. 1987, ch. 347, sec. 2, p. 743; am. 1990, ch. 319, sec. 3, p. 872.]
(a) "Ground water" is all water under the surface of the ground whatever may be the geological structure in which it is standing or moving.
- (1) All ground water having a temperature of greater than eighty-five (85) degrees Fahrenheit and less than two hundred twelve (212) degrees Fahrenheit in the bottom of a well shall be classified and administered as a low temperature geothermal resource pursuant to section 42-233, Idaho Code.
- (2) All ground water having a temperature of two hundred twelve (212) degrees Fahrenheit or more in the bottom of a well shall be classified as a geothermal resource pursuant to section 42-4002, Idaho Code, and shall be administered as a geothermal resource pursuant to chapter 40, title 42, Idaho Code.
- (b) "Well" is an artificial excavation or opening in the ground more than eighteen (18) feet in vertical depth below land surface by which ground water of any temperature is sought or obtained.
- (c) "Well driller" is any person or group of persons who excavate or open a well or wells for compensation or otherwise upon the land of the well driller or upon other land. Well driller does not include those persons who construct a well on their own property for their own use without the aid of any power driven mechanical equipment.
- (d) "Well drilling" or "drilling" for purposes of this chapter is the act of constructing a new well or deepening or modifying an existing well by any percussion, rotary, boring, digging, jetting, or augering method.
- (e) "Water right" is the legal right, however acquired, to the use of water for beneficial purposes.
- (f) "Operator" is the employee of the well driller who, through his work at the drilling site, causes the well to be drilled.
- (g) "Low temperature geothermal resource well" means a well which is capable of producing a low temperature geothermal resource from which fluids can be produced which have value by virtue of the heat contained therein.
[42-230, added 1951, ch. 200, sec. 5, p. 423; am. 1970, ch. 187, sec. 3, p. 541; am. 1971, ch. 149, sec. 1, p. 739; am. 1980, ch. 209, sec. 1, p. 479; am. 1987, ch. 347, sec. 2, p. 743; am. 1990, ch. 319, sec. 3, p. 872.]