Oregon Administrative Rules › Chapter 690 - WATER RESOURCES DEPARTMENT › Division 200 - WATER SUPPLY WELL CONSTRUCTION STANDARDS: INTRODUCTION, GENERAL STANDARDS, AND DEFINITIONS › Section 690-200-0050 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 7, July 1, 2024
The Water Resources Commission uses the definitions of the
				words listed below in the administration and enforcement of Oregon's Ground
				Water Law and the Rules and Regulations for the Construction and Alteration of
				Wells. No other definitions of these same words apply:
(1) "Abandonment, Permanent" means to remove
			 a well from service by completely filling it in such a manner that vertical
			 movement of water within the well bore and within the annular space surrounding
			 the well casing, is effectively and permanently prevented. If a portion of a
			 well is to be abandoned in order to prevent commingling, waste, or loss of
			 artesian pressure, the abandonment shall conform with the requirements of OAR
			 chapter 690, division 220 for water supply wells. This term is synonymous with
			 "decommission."
(2) "Abandonment,
			 Temporary" means to remove a drilling machine from a well site after completing
			 or altering a well provided the well is not immediately put into service, or to
			 remove a well from service with the intent of using it in the future.
(3) "Access Port" means a minimum 1/2-inch
			 tapped hole and plug, a 1/2-inch capped pipe welded onto the casing in the
			 upper portion of a water supply well, or a dedicated measuring tube to permit
			 unobstructed entry to determine the water level in the well at any
			 time.
(4) "Air Gap" means a
			 complete physical break between the outlet end of the discharge pipe or other
			 conduit and the discharged substance. The break shall be at least twice the
			 inside diameter of the pipe or conduit. (Back-siphon prevention)
(5) "Airline" means a water level measuring
			 device consisting of a pressure gauge attached to an airtight line or pipe of
			 known length, within the water supply well bore, extending from land surface to
			 below the pumping level. The device will allow the water level to be computed
			 by measuring the stable air pressure remaining in the line after completely
			 purging water from within the line.
(6) "Air/Vacuum Relief Valve" means a device
			 to automatically relieve or break vacuum. (Back-siphon prevention).
(7) "Altering a Well" means the deepening,
			 hydrofracturing, re-casing, perforating, re-perforating, installation of
			 packers or seals, and any other material change in the design or construction
			 of a well. Material changes include but are not limited to casing installation
			 or modification including casing extensions, installation or modification of
			 liner pipe, reaming or under reaming of the borehole, pitless unit installation
			 or re-sealing except for re-sealing performed during pitless adapter
			 installation.
(8) "Annular Space"
			 means the space between the drillhole wall and the outer well casing.
(9) "Aquifer" means a geologic formation,
			 group of formations, or part of a formation that contains saturated and
			 permeable material capable of transmitting water in sufficient quantity to
			 supply wells or springs and that contains water that is similar throughout in
			 characteristics such as potentiometric head, chemistry, and temperature (see
			 Figure 200-2).
(10) "Artesian
			 Aquifer" means a confined aquifer in which groundwater is under sufficient head
			 to rise above the level at which it was first encountered, whether or not the
			 water flows at land surface. If the water level stands above land surface, the
			 well is a flowing artesian well (see Figure 200-2).
(11) "Artesian Water Supply Well" means a
			 water supply well in which groundwater is under sufficient pressure to rise
			 above the level at which it was first encountered, whether or not the water
			 flows at land surface. If the water level stands above land surface the well is
			 a flowing artesian water supply well.
(12) "Automatic Low-Pressure Drain" means a
			 self-activating device designed and constructed to intercept incidental leakage
			 and drain that portion of an irrigation pipeline or any other method of
			 conveyance whose contents could potentially enter the water supply when
			 operation of the irrigation system pumping plant fails or is shut down.
			 (Back-siphon prevention).
(13)
			 "Back-Siphon Prevention Device" means a safety device used to prevent water
			 pollution or contamination by preventing flow of a mixture of water and/or
			 chemicals in the opposite direction of that intended. (Back-siphon
			 prevention)
(14) "Bored Well" means
			 a well constructed with the use of earth augers turned either by hand or by
			 power equipment.
(15) "Buried Slab
			 Type Well" means a dug well in which well casing is used to case the upper
			 hole. A slab, sealed with cement grout, is placed between the upper hole and
			 lower drillhole, and the remainder of the annulus is filled with
			 concrete.
(16) "Casing" means the
			 outer tubing, pipe, or conduit, welded or thread coupled, and installed in the
			 borehole during or after drilling to support the sides of the well and prevent
			 caving. Casing can be used, in conjunction with proper seal placement, to shut
			 off water, gas, or contaminated fluids from entering the hole, and to prevent
			 waste of groundwater.
(17) "Casing
			 Seal" means the water tight seal established in the well bore between the well
			 casing and the drillhole wall to prevent the inflow and movement of surface
			 water or shallow groundwater in the well annulus, or to prevent the outflow or
			 movement of water under artesian or hydrostatic pressures. This term is
			 synonymous with "annular seal" or "surface seal"
(18) "Check Valve" means a certified device
			 designed and constructed to close a water supply pipeline, chemical injection
			 line, or other conduit in a chemigation system to prevent reverse flow in that
			 line. (Back-siphon prevention).
(19) "Chemigation" means the method of
			 applying agricultural chemicals and fertilizer through an irrigation
			 system.
(20) "Clay" means a
			 fine-grained, inorganic material having plastic properties and with a
			 predominant grain size of less than 0.002 mm.
(21) "Commission" means the Oregon Water
			 Resources Commission.
(22)
			 "Committee" means the Oregon Ground Water Advisory Committee created by ORS
			 536.090.
(23) "Community Well" means a water supply
			 well, whether publicly or privately owned, which serves or is intended to serve
			 more than three connections for residences or other connections for the purpose
			 of supplying water for drinking, culinary, or household uses.
(24) "Confined Animal Feeding or Holding
			 Area" means the concentrated confined feeding or holding of animals or poultry,
			 including but not limited to horse, cattle, sheep, swine, and dairy confinement
			 areas, slaughterhouse or shipping terminal holding pens where the animal waste
			 is allowed to build up on the ground. Pastures and areas adjacent to buildings
			 where animals and animal waste is confined by a physical barrier such as
			 concrete are exempt.
(25)
			 "Confining Interval "means a low permeability material such as clay or solid,
			 unfractured, consolidated rock immediately overlying an artesian (confined)
			 aquifer (see Figure 200-2).
(26)
			 "Consolidated Formation" means materials that have become firm through natural
			 rock-forming processes. It includes, but is not limited to, such materials as
			 basalt, sandstone, shale, hard claystone, and granite.
(27) "Contamination" means an impairment of
			 water quality by chemicals, radionuclides, biologic organisms or other
			 extraneous matter whether or not it affects the potential or intended
			 beneficial use of water.
(28)
			 "Continuing Education" means that education required as a condition of
			 licensure under ORS 537.747, to maintain the skills
			 necessary for the protection of groundwater, the health and general welfare of
			 the citizens of Oregon and the competent practice of the construction,
			 alteration, abandonment, conversion, and maintenance of water supply wells,
			 monitoring wells, and geotechnical holes.
(29) "Continuing Education Committee" means
			 the Well Constructor Continuing Education Committee authorized under Chapter
			 496, Oregon Laws 2001 (ORS
			 537.765).
(30) "Continuing Education Course" means a
			 formal offering of instruction or information to licensee's that provides
			 continuing education credits.
(31)
			 "Continuing Education Credit" (CEC) means a minimum of 50 minutes of
			 instruction or information approved by the Continuing Education
			 Committee.
(32) "Converting" a well
			 means changing the use of an existing well or hole not previously used to
			 either withdraw or monitor water such that the well or hole can be used to
			 either withdraw or monitor water.
(33) "Deepening a well" means extending the
			 well bore of an existing well through previously undisturbed native material.
			 Deepening is a type of alteration.
(34) "Department" means the Oregon Water
			 Resources Department.
(35)
			 "Director" means the Director of the Department or the Director's authorized
			 representatives.
(36)
			 "Documentation of Completion" means written evidence or documentation
			 demonstrating attendance and completion of a continuing education course,
			 including but not limited to: a certificate of completion, diploma, transcript,
			 certified class roster, or other documentation as approved by the Continuing
			 Education Committee.
(37) "Domestic
			 Well" means a water supply well used to serve no more than three residences for
			 the purpose of supplying water for drinking, culinary, or household uses, and
			 which is not used as a public water supply.
(38) "Drawdown" means the difference in
			 vertical distance between the pumping level and the static water level in a
			 well.
(39) "Drive Point Well" means
			 a well constructed by driving into the ground a well-point fitted to the end of
			 a pipe section or series of pipe sections.
(40) "Dug Well" means a well in which the
			 excavation is made by the use of digging equipment such as backhoes, clam shell
			 buckets, or sand buckets. (See Hand dug well).
(41) "Excavation" means a free-standing
			 cavity with greater width than depth constructed in the earth's surface which
			 has a primary purpose other than seeking water or water quality
			 monitoring.
(42) "Figure", when
			 used herein, refers to an illustration and is made a part of the primary
			 article and section by reference.
(43) "Filter Pack Well" means a well in which
			 the area immediately surrounding the well screen or perforated pipe within the
			 water-producing zone is filled with graded granular material.
(44) "Geologic Formation" means an igneous,
			 sedimentary, or metamorphic material that is relatively homogeneous and is
			 sufficiently recognized as to be distinguished from the adjacent material. The
			 term is synonymous with "formation."
(45) "Geologist" means an individual
			 registered by the State of Oregon to practice geology.
(46) "Geotechnical hole" means a hole
			 constructed to collect or evaluate subsurface data or information, monitor
			 movement of landslide features, or to stabilize or dewater landslide features.
			 Geotechnical holes are not monitoring wells or water supply wells as defined
			 below. Various classes and examples of geotechnical holes are listed in OAR
			 690-240-0035(6)-(9).
(47) "Grout"
			 means approved cement, concrete, or bentonite sealing material used to fill an
			 annular space of a well or to abandon a well.
(48) "Grout Pipe" means a pipe which is used
			 to place grout at the bottom of the sealing interval of a well.
(49) "Hand dug well" means a well in which
			 the excavation is only made by the use of picks, shovels, spades, or other
			 similar hand operated implements. (See Dug Well).
(50) "Hazardous Materials Training" means
			 training as defined by OAR 437-002-0100  Adoption by Reference Subdivision H
			 Hazardous Materials 1910.120 Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency
			 Response.
(51) "Hazardous Waste"
			 means a substance as defined by ORS
			 466.005.
(52) "Hazardous Waste Disposal Site" means a
			 geographical site in which or upon which hazardous waste is disposed.
(53) "Hazardous Waste Storage Site" means the
			 geographical site upon which hazardous waste is stored.
(54) "Hazardous Waste Treatment Site" means
			 the geographical site upon which or a facility in which hazardous waste is
			 treated.
(55) "Health Hazard" means
			 a condition where there are sufficient concentrations of biological, chemical,
			 or physical, including radiological, contaminants in the water that are likely
			 to cause human illness, disorders, or disability. These include but are not
			 limited to, naturally occurring substances, pathogenic viruses, bacteria,
			 parasites, toxic chemicals, and radioactive isotopes. Sufficient concentrations
			 of a contaminant include but are not limited to contaminant levels set by the
			 Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and Oregon Health
			 Division.
(56) "Health Threat"
			 means a condition where there is an impending health hazard. The threat may be
			 posed by, but not limited to: a conduit for contamination, or a well affecting
			 migration of a contaminant plume, or the use of contaminated water. A well in
			 which the construction is not verified by a water supply well report or
			 geophysical techniques may be considered a conduit for contamination in certain
			 circumstances. Those circumstances include, but are not limited to: an unused
			 and neglected well or a well for which no surface seal was required. A well in
			 which the casing seal, sanitary seal, or watertight cap has failed, or was
			 inadequately installed may be considered a conduit for contamination.
(57) "Horizontal Well" means a well that
			 intentionally deviates more than 20 degrees from true vertical at any
			 point.
(58) "Hydrofracturing" means
			 the use of high pressure liquid, sand, packers or other material to open or
			 widen fractures in consolidated formations for the purpose of increasing well
			 yield.
(59) "Hydrologic Cycle" is
			 the general pattern of water movement by evaporation from sea to atmosphere, by
			 precipitation onto land, and by return to sea under influence of
			 gravity.
(60) "Inspection Port"
			 means an orifice or other viewing device from which the low-pressure drain and
			 check valve may be observed.
(61)
			 "Jetted Well" means a well in which the drillhole excavation is made by the use
			 of a high velocity jet of water.
(62) "Leakage" means movement of surface and/
			 or subsurface water around the well casing or seal.
(63) "Liner Pipe" means the inner tubing,
			 pipe, or conduit installed inside the well casing or lower well bore. The liner
			 pipe is used to protect against caving formations and is not permanently
			 affixed to the drillhole wall or casing.
(64) "Lower Drillhole" means that part of the
			 well bore extending below the casing seal interval in a well.
(65) "Mineralized Water" means any naturally
			 occurring groundwater containing an amount of dissolved chemical constituents
			 limiting the beneficial uses to which the water may be applied.
(66) "Monitoring Well" means a well designed
			 and constructed to determine the physical (including water level), chemical,
			 biological, or radiological properties of groundwater.
(67) "Monitoring Well Constructor" means any
			 person who has a current monitoring well constructor's license.
(68) "Monitoring Well Constructor's License"
			 means a Water Well Constructor's License with a monitoring well endorsement
			 issued in accordance with ORS
			 537.747(3) or
			 with a monitoring well temporary authorization endorsement issued in accordance
			 with ORS 537.747(3), ORS
			 670.400, and ORS
			 670.403.
(69) "Municipal or Quasi-Municipal Well"
			 means a water supply well owned by a municipality or nonprofit corporation that
			 may be used as a community or public water supply.
(70) "Order" means any action satisfying the
			 definition given in ORS Chapter 183 or any other action so designated in ORS
			 537.505 to
			 537.795.
(71) "Other Hole" means a hole other than a
			 water supply well, a monitoring well, or geotechnical hole, however
			 constructed, in naturally occurring or artificially emplaced earth materials,
			 through which groundwater can become contaminated. Holes constructed under ORS
			 Chapters 517, 520, and 522 are not subject to these rules. Other holes are
			 regulated under OAR 690-240. Examples of other holes are listed in
			 690-240-0030.
(72) "Perched
			 Groundwater" means groundwater held above the regional or main water table by a
			 less permeable underlying earth or rock material (see Figure 200-2).
(73) "Permeability" means the ability of
			 material to transmit fluid, usually described in units of gallons per day per
			 square foot of cross-section area. It is related to the effectiveness with
			 which pore spaces transmit fluids.
(74) "Person" includes individuals,
			 corporations, associations, firms, partnerships, joint stock companies, public
			 and municipal corporations, political subdivisions, the state and any agencies
			 thereof, and the Federal Government and any agencies thereof.
(75) "Petcock Valve" is a valve used to
			 contain pressure which when opened will drain the line or pipe.
(76) "Petroleum" means gasoline, crude oil,
			 fuel oil, diesel oil, lubricating oil, oil sludge, oil refuse, and crude oil
			 fractions and refined petroleum fractions, including gasoline, kerosene,
			 heating oils, diesel fuels, and any other petroleum-related product or waste or
			 fraction thereof that is liquid at a temperature of 60 degrees Fahrenheit and a
			 pressure of 14.7 pounds per square inch absolute. "Petroleum" does not include
			 any substance identified as a hazardous waste under  40 CFR Part 261.
(77) "Piezometer" means a type of monitoring
			 well designed solely to obtain groundwater levels. Piezometers are prohibited
			 in areas of known or reasonably suspected contamination. This term is
			 synonymous with "observation well"(See OAR 690-240).
(78) "Pitless Adapter" means a commercially
			 manufactured device designed for attachment to one or more openings through a
			 well casing, which will permit water service pipes to pass through the wall of
			 a well casing or extension thereof and prevent entrance of contaminants into
			 the well or groundwater. (Note: Unhydrated bentonite shall be installed at
			 least one and one-half inches thick around the casing in any disturbed seal
			 interval during pitless adapter installation).
(79) "Pitless Unit" means a commercially
			 manufactured assembly which extends the upper end of the well casing to above
			 grade, constructed and installed so as to prevent the entrance of contaminants
			 into the well and to protect the groundwater supply, conduct water from the
			 well, and provide full access to the well and water system parts therein.
			 (Note: Unhydrated bentonite shall be installed at least one and one-half inches
			 thick around the casing in any disturbed seal interval during pitless unit
			 installation).
(80) "Porosity"
			 means the ratio of the volume of voids in the geologic formation being drilled
			 to the overall volume of the material without regard to size, shape,
			 interconnection, or arrangement of openings.
(81) "Potable Water" means water which is
			 sufficiently free from biological, chemical, physical, or radiological
			 impurities so that users thereof will not be exposed to or threatened with
			 exposure to disease or harmful physiological effects.
(82) "Potentiometric Surface" means the level
			 to which water will rise in tightly cased artesian wells (see Figure
			 200-2).
(83) "Pressure Grouting"
			 means a process by which grout is confined within the drillhole or casing by
			 the use of retaining plugs or packers and by which sufficient pressure is
			 applied to drive the grout slurry into the annular space or zone to be
			 grouted.
(84) "Professional" means
			 any person licensed or registered by the State of Oregon to construct
			 monitoring wells, water supply wells, or practice geology or civil
			 engineering.
(85) "Public-at-Large"
			 means a person not actively engaged in the well industry.
(86) "Public Water System" means a system for
			 the provision to the public of piped water for human consumption, if such
			 system has more than three service connections or supplies water to a public or
			 commercial establishment that operates a total of at least 60 days per year,
			 and that is used by ten or more individuals per day. Public water system also
			 means a system for the provision to the public of water through constructed
			 conveyances other than pipes to at least 15 service connections or regularly
			 serves at least 25 individuals daily at least 60 days of the year. A public
			 water system is either a "Community Water System," a "Transient Non-Community
			 Water System," a "Non-Transient Non-Community Water System" or a "State
			 Regulated Water System."
(87)
			 "Public Well" means a water supply well, whether publicly or privately owned,
			 other than a municipal well, where water is provided for or is available
			 through the single user for public consumption. This includes, but is not
			 limited to, a school, a farm labor camp, an industrial establishment, a
			 recreational facility, a restaurant, a motel, or a group care home.
(88) "Pumping Level" means the level of the
			 water surface in a well while it is being pumped or bailed.
(89) "Pump Test" means the procedure
			 involving pumping water for a specified period of time to determine the yield
			 characteristics of an aquifer.
(90)
			 "Refusal to Renew" means a provision in an order, or as allowed by ORS
			 537.747, that prohibits renewal
			 of a well constructor's license, for a specified term not to exceed one year
			 from the expiration date of the current license.
(91) "Remediation Well" means a well used for
			 extracting contaminates and/or contaminated groundwater from an aquifer. This
			 term is synonymous with "extraction well" and "recovery well."
(92) "Respondent" means the person against
			 whom an enforcement action is taken.
(93) "Responsible Party" means the person or
			 agency that is in charge of construction or maintenance and is either in
			 violation as specified in a notice of violation or who may benefit from that
			 violation.
(94) "Rough Drilling
			 Log" means a record kept on the well site of the information needed to complete
			 the well report for the well being constructed.
(95) "Revoke" means termination of a well
			 constructor's license.
(96) "Sand"
			 means a material having a prevalent grain size ranging from 2 millimeters to
			 0.06 millimeters.
(97) "Sanitary
			 Seal" means a tight fitting properly sized threaded, welded, or gasketed cap
			 placed on the top of the permanent well casing to prevent entry of water and
			 foreign material.
(98) "Sealant":
			 See Grout.
(99) "Silt" means an
			 unconsolidated sediment composed predominantly of particles between 0.06 mm and
			 0.002mm in diameter.
(100) "Slope
			 Stability Geotechnical Hole" means a geotechnical hole excavated, drilled or
			 bored for studying and/or monitoring movement of landslide features, including
			 water levels, or other mass-wasting features to detect zones of movement and
			 establish whether movement is constant, accelerating, or responding to remedial
			 measures. Hole(s) excavated, drilled or bored for the purpose of slope
			 remediation or stabilization shall be considered a slope stability geotechnical
			 hole. Slope stability geotechnical holes are not monitoring wells, piezometers,
			 or water supply wells.
(101)
			 "Sponsor" means an institution, professional organization, individual, or
			 business that offers continuing education courses to licensees. This term is
			 synonymous with provider.
(102)
			 "Static Water Level" means the stabilized level or elevation of water surface
			 in a well not being pumped.
(103)
			 "Sump" means a hole dug to a depth of ten feet or less with a diameter greater
			 than ten feet in which groundwater is sought or encountered.
(104) "Suspension" means the temporary
			 removal of the privilege to construct wells under an existing license for a
			 period of time not to exceed one year.
(105) "System Interlock" means an
			 interlocking mechanism used to link irrigation pumps and chemical injection
			 units, other pumps, or supply tanks so designed that in the event of irrigation
			 pump malfunction or failure, shutdown of the chemical injection units will
			 occur. (Back-siphon prevention).
(106) "Unconsolidated Formation" means
			 naturally occurring, loosely cemented, or poorly indurated materials including
			 clay, sand, silt, and gravel.
(107)
			 "Underground Injection" means the emplacement or discharge of fluids to the
			 subsurface.
(108) "Underground
			 Injection System" means a well, improved sump, sewage drain hole, subsurface
			 fluid distribution system, or other system or groundwater point source used for
			 the emplacement or discharge of fluids.
(109) "Upper Oversize Drillhole" means that
			 part of the well bore extending from land surface to the bottom of the surface
			 seal interval.
(110) "Violation"
			 means an infraction of any statute, rule, standard, order, license, compliance
			 schedule, or any part thereof and includes both acts and omissions.
(111) "Water Supply Well" means a well, other
			 than a monitoring well, that is used to beneficially withdraw or beneficially
			 inject ground or surface water. Water supply wells include, but are not limited
			 to, community, dewatering, domestic, irrigation, industrial, municipal, and
			 aquifer storage and recovery wells.
(112) "Water Supply Well Constructor" means
			 any person who has a current water supply well constructor's license.
(113) "Water Supply Well Constructor's
			 License" means a Water Well Constructor's License with a water supply well
			 endorsement issued in accordance with ORS
			 537.747(3) or
			 with a water supply well temporary authorization endorsement issued in
			 accordance with ORS 537.747(3), ORS
			 670.400, and ORS
			 670.403.
(114) "Water Supply Well Drilling Machine"
			 means any power-driven driving, jetting, percussion, rotary, boring, digging,
			 augering machine, or other equipment used in the construction or alteration of
			 water supply wells.
(115) "Water
			 Table" means the upper surface of an unconfined water body, the surface of
			 which is at atmospheric pressure and fluctuates seasonally. The water table is
			 defined by the levels at which water stands in wells that penetrate the water
			 body (see Figure 200-2).
(116)
			 "Water Well Constructor's License" means a license to construct, alter, deepen,
			 abandon or convert wells issued in accordance with ORS
			 537.747(3).
			 Endorsements are issued to the license and are specific to the type of well a
			 constructor is qualified to construct, alter, deepen, abandon or
			 convert.
(117) "Well" means any
			 artificial opening or artificially altered natural opening, however made, by
			 which groundwater is sought or through which groundwater flows under natural
			 pressure, or is artificially withdrawn or injected. This definition shall not
			 include a natural spring, or wells drilled for the purpose of exploration or
			 production of oil or gas. Prospecting or exploration for geothermal resources
			 as defined in ORS 522.005 or production of
			 geothermal resources derived from a depth greater than 2,000 feet as defined in
			 522.055 is regulated by the Department of Geology and Mineral
			 Industries.
(118) "Wet Soil
			 Monitoring Hole" means a shallow geotechnical hole set vertically in the ground
			 and constructed to a depth of three and one-half feet or less for studying
			 and/or monitoring the upper portion of the shallowest water-bearing unit within
			 and immediately below the surface soil horizon.
To view attachments referenced in rule text,
click here to view
				  rule
.
Statutory/Other Authority: ORS
				  536.027, ORS
				  536.090, ORS
				  537.505 - 537.795, ORS
				  670.400 & ORS
				  670.403
Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS
				  536.090, ORS
				  537.505 - 537.795, ORS
				  670.400 & ORS
				  670.403