2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 37 - WATER AND IRRIGATION (§§ 37-1-101 — 37-99-103) › WATER RIGHTS AND IRRIGATION (§§ 37-80-101 — 37-93-101) › UNDERGROUND WATER (§§ 37-90-101 — 37-91-113) › Article 91 - WATER WELL CONSTRUCTION AND PUMP INSTALLATION CONTRACTORS (§§ 37-91-101 — 37-91-113) › Section 37-91-102 - Definitions

As used in this article 91, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) and (2)
Repealed.
(3)
"Board" means the state board of examiners of water well construction and pump installation contractors created by section
37-91-103
.
(4)
"Construction of wells" means any act undertaken at the well site for the establishment or modification of a well, including, without limitation, the location of the well and the excavation or fracturing thereof but not including surveying or other acts preparatory thereto, site preparation and modification or site modification, or the installation of pumping equipment.
(4.5)
"Dewatering well" includes any excavation that is drilled, cored, bored, washed, fractured, driven, dug, jetted, or otherwise constructed when the intended use of such excavation is for temporary dewatering purposes for construction only.
(4.7)
"Directly employed" means engaged in employment where the employer is responsible for and directly controls the performance of the employee, and, where applicable, the employee is covered by workers' compensation and unemployment compensation. "Directly employed" does not refer to independent contractors or subcontractors.
(5) and (6)
Repealed.
(7)
"Groundwater" means any water not visible on the surface of the ground under natural conditions.
(8)
"Installation of pumping equipment" means the selection, placement, and preparation for operation of pumping equipment, including all construction involved in entering the well and establishing well seals and safeguards to protect groundwater from contamination.
(9)
Repealed.
(10)
"License" means the document issued by the board to qualified persons making application therefor, pursuant to section
37-91-105
, authorizing such persons to engage in one or more methods of well construction or pump installation or any combination of such methods.
(10.5)
"Monitoring and observation well" includes any excavation that is drilled, cored, bored, washed, fractured, driven, dug, jetted, or otherwise constructed when the intended use of such excavation is for locating such well, pumping equipment or aquifer testing, monitoring groundwater, or collection of water quality samples.
(11)
Repealed.
(11.5)
"Person" means an individual, a partnership, a corporation, a municipality, the state, the United States, or any other legal entity, public or private.
(12)
"Private driller" means any individual, corporation, partnership, association, political subdivision, or public agency that uses equipment owned by it to dig, drill, redrill, case, recase, deepen, or excavate a well entirely for its own use upon property owned by it.
(12.5)
"Private pump installer" means any individual, corporation, partnership, association, political subdivision, or public agency that uses equipment owned by it to install pumping equipment on a well entirely for its own use on property owned by it.
(13)
"Pumping equipment" means any pump or related equipment used or intended for use in withdrawing or obtaining groundwater, including, but not limited to, well seals, pitless adapters, and other safeguards to protect the groundwater from contamination and any waterlines up to and including the pressure tank and any coupling appurtenant thereto.
(14)
"Pump installation contractor" means any person licensed to install, remove, modify, or repair pumping equipment for compensation.
(15)
"Repair" means any change, replacement, or other alteration of any well or pumping equipment which requires a breaking or opening of the well seal or any waterlines up to and including the pressure tank and any coupling appurtenant thereto.
(15.5)
"Supervision" means personal and continuous on-the-site direction by a licensed well construction contractor or licensed pump installation contractor, unless the licensed contractor has applied for and received from the board an exemption from continuous on-the-site direction for a specific task.
(15.7)
"Test hole" includes any excavation that is drilled, cored, bored, washed, fractured, driven, dug, jetted, or otherwise constructed when the intended use of such excavation is for geotechnical, geophysical, or geologic investigation or soil- or rock-sampling.
(16)
(a)
"Well" for the purpose of this article means any test hole or other excavation that is drilled, cored, bored, washed, fractured, driven, dug, jetted, or otherwise constructed for the purpose of location, monitoring, dewatering, observation, diversion, artificial recharge, or acquisition of groundwater for beneficial use or for conducting pumping equipment or aquifer tests.
(b)
(I)
"Well" does not include:
(A)
Certain types of monitoring and observation wells, dewatering wells, and test holes that the board specifies in rules in order to allow for their construction, utilization, and abandonment by other than a well construction contractor;
(B)
An excavation made for the purpose of obtaining or prospecting for minerals or those wells subject to the jurisdiction of the energy and carbon management commission, as provided in article
60
of title
34
; or
(C)
Wells subject to the jurisdiction of the office of mined land reclamation, as provided in article
33
of title
34
.
(II)
"Well" does not include a naturally flowing spring or springs where the natural spring discharge is captured or concentrated by installation of a near-surface structure or device less then ten feet in depth located at or within fifty feet of the spring or springs' natural discharge point and the water is conveyed directly by gravity flow or into a separate sump or storage, if the owner obtains a water right for such structure or device as a spring pursuant to article
92
of this title.
(17)
"Well construction contractor" means any person licensed pursuant to this article and responsible for the construction, test-pumping, or development of wells, either by contract or for hire or for any consideration whatsoever.
(18)
"Well seal" means an approved arrangement or device used to cover a well or to establish and maintain a junction between the casing or curbing of a well and the piping or equipment installed therein, the purpose or function of which is to prevent contaminated water or other material from entering the well at the upper terminal.
Amended by 2023 Ch. 235,§ 39, eff. 7/1/2023.
L. 67: p. 691, § 2. C.R.S. 1963: § 148-20-2. L. 85: (3), (4), (8), (10), (12), (15), and (18) amended, (4.5), (4.7), (10.5), (11.5), (12.5), (15.5), and (15.7) added, (13), (14), (16), and (17) R&RE, and (1), (2), (5), (6), (9), and (11) repealed, pp. 1180, 1182, 1189, §§ 2, 3, 16, effective July 1. L. 90: (4.7) amended, p. 574, § 71, effective July 1. L. 92: (16) amended, p. 1971, § 78, effective July 1. L. 95: (16) amended, p. 140, § 3, effective April 7. L. 2003: (4.7), (8), (10), (12), (12.5), (13), (14), (15.5), and (16)(a) amended, p. 1675, § 2, effective May 14.