In the conduct of oil and gas operations, each owner shall exercise due care in the protection of water-bearing formations as required by the applicable statutes of the State of Nebraska.
Special precautions shall be taken in drilling and abandoning wells to guard against any loss of artesian water from the stratum in which it occurs and the contamination of potable water by objectionable water, oil or gas. Before any oil or gas well is completed as a producer, all oil, gas and water strata above and below the producing horizon shall be sealed or separated in order to prevent the intermingling of their contents.
267 Neb. Admin. Code, ch. 2, § 006