Book Description

Exploratory drilling in Boise, Idaho, in the vicinity of the Boise Front Fault has confirmed the presence of a 170°F (77°C) geothermal resource below about 800 ft (244 m) near the Veterans Hospital of the Military Reserve Park. The Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL), sponsored by the Department of Energy, drilled three exploratory slim holes and two deep exploratory test wells. Study results based on tests of the two exploratory-test wells are reported. Faulting related to the Boise Front Fault defines a major physiographic break in the area that acts as a subsurface conduit through which geothermal water circulates. Hydrologic tests indicate that rocks disturbed by the Boise Front Fault may be as much as ten times more permeable than those removed from the major structural lineament.