NV Well Driller cheat sheet

Nevada requires a minimum annular seal of 20 feet of neat cement or bentonite grout in all wells; the seal must extend from land surface or the top of the casing down to at least 20 feet, and deeper where necessary to seal off unconfined aquifers or poor-quality water.

Well casing must extend at least 12 inches above land surface or 12 inches above the concrete pad; the pad must be at least 4 inches thick and slope away from the casing.

For domestic wells, the minimum casing diameter is 4 inches nominal; the borehole must be at least 2 inches larger than the casing to allow proper grout placement.

Grout must be placed by the pump-and-tremie method from the bottom up; free-fall dumping of grout is prohibited because it can bridge and leave voids.

The minimum distance from a well to a septic tank is 50 feet, to a septic drainfield 100 feet, to a feedlot or animal enclosure 100 feet, and to a sanitary landfill or hazardous waste site 200 feet (or more if local ordinance requires).

Well screens or perforations must be set opposite the producing aquifer and must not be placed in confining layers; the screen opening size should be selected to retain 90% of the formation sand (D90).

A well must be developed after construction to remove drilling mud and fines; development continues until the discharge water is clear and sand-free.

All wells must be capped with a watertight, vermin-proof well seal; the cap must have a vent that is screened and directed downward to prevent contamination.

Abandoned wells must be sealed by filling the entire well bore with grout or approved sealing material; the upper 20 feet must be sealed with neat cement, and the well must be documented on the appropriate Division form.

Nevada water law is based on the prior appropriation doctrine: first in time, first in right; beneficial use is the basis, measure, and limit of the right.

All waters of the State, both surface and groundwater, are public waters and are subject to appropriation; a permit from the State Engineer is required for any new withdrawal or diversion.

The State Engineer administers water rights, issues permits, and adjudicates conflicts; the Office of the State Engineer is the regulatory authority for well drilling and water appropriation.

Well drillers must be licensed by the Nevada State Contractors Board and hold a specialty license for well drilling; separate licensing exists for water well and monitoring well drilling.

A water well driller must file a Notice of Intent to Drill with the State Engineer before commencing drilling; the notice must include the location, proposed depth, and intended use.

Water rights are quantified by duty (e.g., acre-feet per year), rate (cubic feet per second), and priority date; the priority date determines the order of curtailment during shortage.

Domestic wells are exempt from obtaining a water right permit only for uses of less than 1,800 gallons per day (0.0056 cfs) for household purposes; larger uses require a permit.

The State Engineer may designate groundwater basins and establish preferred uses; in designated basins, new appropriations may be limited or denied based on available water.

Violations of water law or well construction regulations can result in fines, license suspension, or revocation, and the State Engineer may order remediation of improperly constructed wells.

A well driller must submit a Well Driller's Report (Form 3) to the State Engineer within 30 days after completion of drilling, modification, or abandonment of a well.

The report must include: owner name and address, well location (latitude/longitude or PLSS coordinates), drilling method, well depth, casing diameter and depth, screen or perforation intervals, static water level, yield test data, and grout volume and method.

A copy of the well log must be provided to the well owner; the driller must retain a copy for at least 5 years.

The driller must record lithologic descriptions of formations encountered using standard terms (e.g., sand, gravel, clay, sandstone, limestone) and note the depth of each change.

Water quality samples, if taken, must be reported with the well log; the driller must note any indications of poor water quality (e.g., sulfur odor, salinity) and the depth of the producing zone.

Abandonment reports must document the method and materials used to seal the well, including the type and volume of grout and the depth of the seal.

The State Engineer may require additional information or a pump test report for high-capacity wells; the driller must file the requested data within the specified time.

Failure to file a complete and accurate well log is a violation and may result in a fine or license action; the log is a public record.

Groundwater flows from areas of higher hydraulic head to lower head; the hydraulic gradient is the change in head per unit distance (ft/ft) and drives flow direction.

Darcy's Law: Q = K * i * A, where Q is discharge (ft³/day), K is hydraulic conductivity (ft/day), i is hydraulic gradient (ft/ft), and A is cross-sectional area (ft²).

Transmissivity (T) = K * b, where b is saturated thickness; T indicates the ability of an aquifer to transmit water and is used in pump test analysis.

Specific yield (Sy) is the volume of water released from storage per unit volume of aquifer; confined aquifers have storativity (S) much smaller than unconfined aquifers.

Pump test analysis: drawdown vs. time on semilog paper; the Theis method or Cooper-Jacob straight-line method yields T and S from observation well data.

A site evaluation must assess potential contamination sources within the required isolation distances, including septic systems, fuel tanks, chemical storage, and animal waste.

Well yield is estimated by pump test or bailer test; a minimum yield of 2-5 gpm is often required for a domestic well, but local requirements vary.

Static water level is the level of water in a well when not pumping; pumping water level is measured during pumping and is used to calculate drawdown (s = pumping level - static level).

Aquifer boundaries (e.g., faults, impermeable layers) affect well yield and water quality; a well near a fault may have higher yield but increased risk of contamination.