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                                                                  EXHIBIT 10(23)

                            LAYNE CHRISTENSEN COMPANY
                       NONQUALIFIED STOCK OPTION AGREEMENT

      THIS AGREEMENT dated __________________ (the "Granting Date"), is made by
and between Layne Christensen Company, a Delaware corporation (the "Company"),
and ______________ (the "Optionee").

      WHEREAS, the Company has adopted the Layne Christensen Company 1996
District Stock Option Plan (the "Plan") pursuant to which the Company may, from
time to time, grant options to Key Employees to purchase shares of the Company's
common stock;

      WHEREAS, the Administrative Committee has determined that the Optionee is
a Key Employee of the Company or a Subsidiary who has made or is expected to
make a significant contribution to the Company or a Subsidiary; and

      WHEREAS, the Company desires to grant to the Optionee a Nonqualified stock
option to purchase shares of the Company's common stock on the terms and
conditions hereinafter set forth.

      NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants contained herein
and other good and valuable consideration, the receipt of which is hereby
acknowledged, the parties hereto agree as follows:

      1. INCORPORATION OF PLAN. The Plan is attached hereto as EXHIBIT A and
incorporated herein by this reference, and all of the terms and conditions
therein shall be deemed to be included as part of the terms and conditions of
this Agreement. In the event of a conflict, the terms and conditions of the Plan
shall control. All terms used herein which are defined in the Plan shall have
the meanings given them in the Plan.

      2. GRANT OF STOCK OPTION. The Company hereby grants the Optionee an option
(the "Option") to purchase at the times hereinafter set forth, in one or more
exercises, all or any part of an aggregate of _________ shares of the Company's
common stock (the "Shares") for an exercise price of $________ per share.

      3. CONSIDERATION TO THE COMPANY. In consideration of the granting of this
Option by the Company, the Optionee agrees to render faithful and efficient
services to the Company or a Subsidiary, with such duties and responsibilities
as the Company shall from time to time prescribe. Nothing in this Agreement or
in the Plan shall confer upon the Optionee any right to continue in the employ
of the Company or any Subsidiary or shall interfere with or restrict in any way
the rights of the Company and its Subsidiaries, which are hereby expressly
reserved, to discharge the Optionee at any time for any reason whatsoever, with
or without cause. In addition, nothing in this Agreement or in the Plan shall
require the Optionee to continue in the employ of the Company or any Subsidiary.

      4. TIMING AND MANNER OF EXERCISE. The Option shall be and become
exercisable as follows: 25% on the day after the first anniversary of the
Granting Date, 50% on the day after the second anniversary of the Granting Date,
75% on the day after the third anniversary of the Granting Date, and 100% on the
day after the fourth anniversary of the Granting Date.

      Provided, however, that the Option shall be 100% exercisable upon and
after a "Change in Control." A Change in Control shall be deemed to exist if:

      (i) less than a majority of the Directors are persons who were either
nominated or selected by the Board; or

      (ii) any "person," as such term is used in Sections 13(d) and 14(d) of the
Exchange Act (other than a Director nominated or selected by the Board or an
Officer elected by the Board, the Company, a subsidiary, an affiliate, or a
Company employee benefit plan, including any trustee of such plan acting as
trustee) becomes the "beneficial owner" (as defined in Rule 13d-3 under the
Exchange Act), directly or indirectly, of securities of the Company (or a
successor to the Company) representing 35% or more of the combined voting power
of the then outstanding securities of the Company or such successor; or

      (iii) (A) the stockholders of the Company approve a merger or
consolidation of the Company with any other corporation, other than a merger or
consolidation which would result in the Voting Securities (as defined below) of
the Company outstanding immediately prior thereto continuing to represent
(either by remaining outstanding or by being converted into Voting Securities of
the surviving entity) at least 80 percent of the total

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voting power represented by the Voting Securities of the Company or such
surviving entity outstanding immediately after such merger or consolidation, or
(B) the stockholders of the Company approve a plan of complete liquidation of
the Company or an agreement for the sale or disposition by the Company of all or
substantially all of the Company's assets, or (C) any other event which the
Board determines, in its discretion, would materially alter the structure of the
Company or its ownership. As used in this paragraph, "Voting Securities" shall
mean any securities of the Company which vote generally in the election of
Directors.

      No additional portion of the Option shall become exercisable after the
Optionee's Termination of Employment.

      The Option shall expire as to all of the Shares ten (10) years after the
Granting Date except the Option (or a portion thereof) shall terminate earlier
as provided in Section 4.3(a) of the Plan.

      The Optionee may exercise the Option for all or any part of the Shares
subject to each installment listed above on or after the respective exercise
date listed above by delivering to the Company a written notice in accordance
with Section 4.3(d) of the Plan.

      5. NOTICES. Any notice to be given under the terms of this Agreement to
the Company shall be addressed to the Secretary of the Company at Layne
Christensen Company, 1900 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Mission Woods, Kansas 66205,
and any notice to be given to the Optionee shall be addressed to him at the
address given beneath his or her signature hereto. By a notice given pursuant to
this Section 5, either party may hereafter designate a different address for
notices to be given to him. Any notice which is required to be given to the
Optionee shall, if the Optionee is then deceased, be given to the Optionee's
personal representative if such representative has previously informed the
Company of his or her status and address by written notice under this Section 5.
Any notice shall be deemed duly given when enclosed in a properly sealed
envelope or wrapper addressed as aforesaid, deposited (with postage prepaid) in
a post office or branch post office regularly maintained by the United States
Postal Service.

      6. TITLES. Titles are provided herein for convenience only and are not to
serve as a basis for interpretation or construction of this Agreement.

      7. AMENDMENT. This Agreement may be amended only by a writing executed by
the parties hereto which specifically states that it is amending this Agreement.

      8. GOVERNING LAW. The laws of the State of Kansas shall govern the
interpretation, validity and performance of the terms of this Agreement
regardless of the law that might be applied under principles of conflicts of
laws.

      9. NON-ASSIGNABILITY. Except as otherwise provided herein or in the Plan,
the Option and the rights and privileges conferred hereby shall not be
transferred, assigned, pledged or hypothecated in any way (whether by operation
of law or otherwise) and shall not be subject to execution, attachment, or
similar process. Upon any attempt to transfer, assign, pledge, hypothecate or
otherwise dispose of the Option, or of any right or privilege conferred hereby,
or upon the levy of any attachment or similar process upon the rights and
privileges conferred hereby, contrary to the provisions hereby, this Option and
the rights and privileges conferred hereby shall immediately become null and
void.

      10. BINDING EFFECT. Except as expressly stated herein to the contrary,
this Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the respective
heirs, legal representatives, successors and assigns of the parties hereto.

      IN WITNESS WHEREOF, this Agreement has been executed and delivered by the
parties hereto.

THE COMPANY: LAYNE CHRISTENSEN COMPANY          THE OPTIONEE:

By: ________________________                    ________________________________
    Name: Andrew B. Schmitt                     Name: __________________________
    Title: President, Chief Executive Officer
                                                Address of the Optionee:
                                                 _______________________________
                                                 _______________________________
                                                 _______________________________

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                                                                  EXHIBIT 10(24)

                            LAYNE CHRISTENSEN COMPANY
                           DEFERRED COMPENSATION PLAN
                                  FOR DIRECTORS
                             (AMENDED AND RESTATED)

      Layne Christensen Company, a Delaware corporation, (the "Company")
originally adopted the Layne Christensen Company Deferred Compensation Plan For
Directors (the "Plan") for non-employee members of the Company's Board of
Directors. The Plan is hereby amended and restated to reflect certain changes in
Directors' compensation, as such changes were approved by the Company's full
Board of Directors on April 26, 2004.

                                    ARTICLE I

      1.1 NAME AND PURPOSE. The name of this plan is the "Layne Christensen
Company Deferred Compensation Plan for Directors." The purpose of the Plan is to
provide non-employee Directors of the Company with increased flexibility in
timing the receipt of board service fees and to assist the Company in attracting
and retaining qualified individuals to serve as Directors.

      1.2 DEFINITIONS. Certain capitalized terms used herein are defined
parenthetically throughout this Plan and/or defined in this Section 1.2.

      (a)   "BOARD" means the Company's Board of Directors.

      (b)   "CLOSING PRICE" means the closing price of the Company's Common
            Stock as reported in The Wall Street Journal.

      (c)   "COMMON STOCK" means the common stock of Layne Christensen Company.

      (d)   "COMPANY" means Layne Christensen Company.

      (e)   "COMPENSATION" means all remuneration payable to a Director for
            service as a Director other than reimbursement for expenses and
            shall include, but not be limited to, fees for service and fees for
            attendance at meetings of the Board and of its committees.

      (f)   "DIRECTOR" means any individual serving on the Board who is not an
            employee of the Company or any of its subsidiaries.

      (g)   "EFFECTIVE DATE" means August 1, 1997.

      (h)   "PARTICIPANT" means a Director who has filed an election to
            participate under Section 3.1 with regard to any Plan Year.

      (i)   "PLAN ADMINISTRATOR" means a committee consisting of at least two of
            the employees of the Company designated by the Chief Executive
            Officer of the Company.

      (j)   "PLAN YEAR" means the calendar year except that the first Plan Year
            was the period August 1, 1997 through December 31, 1997.

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                                   ARTICLE II

      2.1 PARTICIPATION IN THE PLAN. Any individual who is a Director may
participate in the PLAN.

                                   ARTICLE III

      3.1 ELECTION TO PARTICIPATE. Each Director may elect annually to have
payment of all or any portion of the Director's Compensation for that Plan Year
deferred to another year. An election to defer shall provide that the
Compensation deferred will be paid on January 15 (or next business day) of a
specified year in the future; provided, however, that if the Participant ceases
to be a Director prior to such specified year, the Participant's account will be
paid within thirty (30) days after the Participant ceased to be a Director. No
election to defer under this Plan may be made after December 31 of the year
preceding the Plan Year during which Compensation would otherwise be paid;
provided, however, that an election for the first Plan Year must have been made
prior to the Effective Date. If a Participant becomes a Director during a Plan
Year, the Director will have thirty (30) days to make an election with respect
to the remainder of the Compensation due for that Plan Year; provided that a
period of at least six (6) months exists between the date of such deferral
election and, but for such deferral election, the date the Compensation would
otherwise have been paid.

            An election to defer any Compensation shall be in writing and shall
be delivered to the Plan Administrator or its designee in a form prescribed by
the Plan Administrator. An election to defer shall be irrevocable by the
Director and shall be effective only for the Plan Year immediately following the
date on which it was filed. In the absence of a written election to defer filed
by a Director with the Plan Administrator, any Compensation will be paid
directly to the Director.

      3.2 MODE OF DEFERRAL. Payment of a Participant's Compensation may be
deferred by means of a credit. Credits shall be recorded in accounts established
in Participants' names on the books of the Company.

      Payment of a Participant's Compensation may be deferred by means of a cash
credit, a stock credit or a combination of the two as the Participant shall
elect in writing at the same time as the election provided for in Section 3.1 is
made. If a Participant fails to make an election as to mode of deferral, the
Participant shall be deemed to have elected deferral by means of a cash credit.
Cash credits and stock credits shall be recorded in accounts established in
Participants' names on the books of the Company.

      The Company shall not be obligated to make actual cash deposits or stock
purchases in the account established in Participants' names on the books of the
Company, but only to make bookkeeping entries as if deposits had been made. If,
for its own convenience, the Company should make deposits, any deposited sums
shall remain a general, unrestricted asset of the Company and shall not be
deemed as being held in trust, escrow or in any other fiduciary manner for the
benefit of the Participant.

      (a)   CASH CREDITS. If the deferral is wholly or partly by means of a cash
            credit, the Company shall credit the Participant's cash credit
            account at the same time, and with the same amount, that the
            Director would have otherwise been paid in cash had no deferral
            election been made. As of the last day of each calendar quarter and
            after subtracting any distributions from the account made during the
            quarter, the Participant's cash credit account shall also be
            credited with interest using an interest rate equal to the annual
            rate of yield on the longest term United States Treasury Bond
            outstanding at the end of the

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            preceding year. Interest shall be calculated on the actual number of
            days in the quarter based upon a 360 day year.

      (b)   STOCK CREDITS. If the deferral is wholly or partly by means of a
            stock credit, the Company shall credit the Participant's stock
            credit account, at the same time that the Director would have
            otherwise been paid in cash had no deferral election been made, with
            a hypothetical number of shares of Common Stock (including fractions
            of a share) equal to the number of shares of Common Stock that could
            have been purchased with the Compensation deferred assuming the per
            share hypothetical purchase price is equal to the average of the
            Closing Prices on each of the ten (10) business days immediately
            preceding the date such stock credit is made. As of the date any
            dividend is paid to shareholders of Common Stock, the Participant's
            stock credit account shall also be credited with an additional
            hypothetical number of shares of Common Stock equal to the number of
            shares of Common Stock (including fractions of a share) that could
            have been purchased at the Closing Price on such date if the
            dividend had been paid on the hypothetical number of shares of
            Common Stock then credited to the Participant's stock credit
            account. In case of dividends paid in property, the dividend shall
            be deemed to be the fair market value of the property at the time of
            distribution of the dividend, as determined by the Plan
            Administrator, and the Company shall credit the Participant's stock
            credit account in the same manner as set forth above in this Section
            3.2(b).

      3.3 DISTRIBUTION OF CREDITS. Payment of a Participant's accounts shall be
made in a single lump sum payment either (i) within thirty (30) days after the
Participant ceases to be a Director or (ii) if a Participant has elected payment
in a specified year under Section 3.1, distribution of the Participant's account
will be made on January 15 (or next business day) of the year specified,
whichever is earlier. Distribution of a Participant's cash credit and stock
credit accounts shall be made in cash. The distribution amount of a
Participant's stock credit account shall be determined by multiplying the
hypothetical number of shares of Common Stock then credited to the Participant's
stock credit account by the average of the Closing Prices on each of the
immediately preceding ten (10) business days prior to (x) the date a Participant
ceases to be a Director in the case of (i) above or (y) January 15 of the year
specified in (ii) above, whichever is applicable.

      3.4 ADJUSTMENT. If at any time the number of outstanding shares of Common
Stock shall be increased as the result of any stock dividend, subdivision,
reclassification of shares or any other similar event, the hypothetical number
of shares of Common Stock that are then credited to each Participant's stock
credit account shall be increased in the same proportion as the outstanding
number of shares of Common Stock is increased, or if the number of outstanding
shares of Common Stock shall at any time be decreased as the result of any
combination or reclassification of shares, reverse stock split or any other
similar event, the hypothetical number of shares of Common Stock that are then
credited to each Participant's stock credit account shall be decreased in the
same proportion as the outstanding number of shares of Common Stock is
decreased. In the event the Company shall at any time be consolidated with or
merged into any other corporation and holders of the Common Stock receive common
shares of the resulting or surviving corporation, there shall be credited to
each Participant's stock credit account, in place of the hypothetical shares
then credited thereto, a stock equivalent determined by multiplying the number
of common shares of stock given in exchange for a share of Common Stock upon
such consolidation or merger, by the hypothetical number of shares of Common
Stock then credited to the Participant's stock credit account. If, in such a
consolidation or merger, holders of the Common Stock shall receive any
consideration other than common shares of the resulting or surviving
corporation, the

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Plan Administrator, in its sole discretion, shall determine the appropriate
change in Participants' accounts.

      3.5 DISTRIBUTION UPON DEATH. In the event of the death of a Participant,
whether before or within thirty (30) days after ceasing to serve as a Director,
any credit account to which the Participant was entitled shall be distributed in
a lump sum cash payment to such person or persons or the survivors thereof,
including corporations, unincorporated associations or trusts, as the
Participant may have designated. All such designations shall be made in writing
signed by the Participant and delivered to the Plan Administrator. A Participant
may from time to time revoke or change any such designation by written notice to
the Plan Administrator. If there is no unrevoked designation on file with the
Plan Administrator at the time of the Participant's death, or if the person or
persons designated therein shall have all predeceased the Participant or
otherwise ceased to exist, such distributions shall be made in accordance with
the Participant's will or in the absence of a will, to the administrator of the
Participant's estate. Any distribution under this Section 3.5 shall be made as
soon as practicable following the end of the fiscal quarter in which the Plan
Administrator is notified of the Participant's death. Should such Participant
have a stock credit account, the amount of the distribution shall be determined
by multiplying the hypothetical number of shares of Common Stock credited to
such account by the average of the Closing Prices on each of the last ten (10)
business days of the fiscal quarter in which the Plan Administrator is notified
of the Participant's death.

      3.6 WITHHOLDING TAXES. The Company shall deduct from all distributions
under the PLAN any taxes required to be withheld by federal, state, or local
governments.

                                   ARTICLE IV

      4.1 PLAN ADMINISTRATOR. The Plan Administrator shall have full power and
authority to administer the Plan including the power to promulgate forms to be
used with regard to the Plan, the power to promulgate rules of Plan
administration, the power to settle any disputes as to rights or benefits
arising from the Plan, and the power to make such decisions to take such action
as the Plan Administrator, in its sole discretion, deems necessary or advisable
to aid in the proper maintenance of the Plan.

                                    ARTICLE V

      5.1 FUNDING. No promise hereunder shall be secured by any specific assets
of the Company, nor shall any assets of the Company be designated as
attributable or allocated to the satisfaction of such promises.

                                   ARTICLE VI

      6.1 NON-ALIENATION OF BENEFITS. None of the Participant's stock credit
account, cash credit account or any other benefit provided under the Plan may be
assigned, alienated, pledged, attached, sold or otherwise transferred or
encumbered by a Participant other than by will or by the laws of descent and
distribution, and any such purported assignment, alienation, pledge, attachment,
sale, transfer or encumbrance shall be void and unenforceable against the
Company. No such benefit shall, prior to receipt thereof by the Participant, be
subject to the debts, contracts, liabilities, engagements, or torts of the
Participant.

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                                   ARTICLE VII

      7.1 DELEGATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE DUTIES. Administrative duties imposed by
this Plan may be delegated by the Plan Administrator to an individual charged
with such duties.

      7.2 GOVERNING LAW. This Plan shall be governed by the laws of the State of
Delaware.

      7.3 NON-ERISA PLAN. This Plan covers no employees of the Company and
therefore is not subject to any of the provisions of the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974.

      7.4 AMENDMENT, MODIFICATION AND TERMINATION OF THE PLAN. The Board at any
time may terminate and, in any respect, amend or modify the Plan, including the
termination of any deferrals and the immediate payment thereof; provided
however, that the formula provisions of this Plan shall not be amended more than
once every six (6) months, other than to comply with changes in the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, the applicable Treasury Regulations
promulgated thereunder, and any releases or judicial decisions pertaining to the
same.

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