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  #1  
Old 08-10-2012, 04:57 PM
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In Oregon, they send you to jail for collecting rainwater

6 hrs ago
It seems you can go to jail for almost any indiscretion, as one Oregon man has discovered. Gary Harrington has started serving a 30-day jail sentence and must pay more than $1,500 in fines because he was collecting rainwater in three “illegal reservoirs” on his property. Harrington was in breach of a 1925 law for “diverting water from streams” running into Big Butte Creek, according to state water officials. Harrington told the court he was just storing rainwater from his own property to use for wildfire protection, but the Oregon Water Resources Department disagreed. Harrington is vowing to fight the penalty, calling the state government “big bullies.” What’s next, going to jail for eating snow? [Source]

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Old 08-10-2012, 05:01 PM
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Same in Colorado. You can't collect water that runs of your roof here. Water rights are a big issue with lots of high paid lawyers running around enforcing them.
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Old 08-10-2012, 05:04 PM
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I'd imagine the case against it is if people start doing that, they deprive the creek which may be a water resource downstream, or hold any number of endangered species. Yet its the rain....kinda stupid.
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  #4  
Old 08-10-2012, 05:57 PM
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property rights lol.

Man sentenced to jail for collecting rainwater in Oregon — RT
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Old 08-10-2012, 09:25 PM
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Rain that happens to fall on private property doesn't necessarily become the property of the owner, particularly if it's part of the recharge for a contested or protected stream. While this is pretty dopey, it's just a tiny part of the much larger issue of water in the west.
My house water comes from an artesian spring on my place that my family improved over a hundred years ago. The unused portion returns to the creek in a tail ditch. The Salt River Project in Phoenix long ago locked up the surface water rights to the entire Verde River drainage to provide water for Phoenix. There is a huge adjudication court case that's been going on for about 25 years now and I don't expect to see end for that many more. The utility wants to meter all private wells and springs that can be shown to be part of the recharge of the Oak Creek-Verde-Salt River system and charge the well and spring owners for use. If they win, even wells within a quarter mile of the creek or river will be redefined as "surface water" and will be metered.
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Old 08-10-2012, 09:36 PM
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While the people in Poenis get their green lawns and East Coast vegetation. You all should band together and charter a plane full of Agent Orange to spray the cesspool to your south down.
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Old 08-10-2012, 09:57 PM
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In CT the DEP would shoot you for diverting a watercourse like that. Than the local wetlands board would fine you into bankruptcy.
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Old 08-11-2012, 01:23 AM
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It's probably no different in western Canada. Out there, you buy into water rights so that you get a small share of a stream running through your property.
Around my place you pay to get rid of water into municipal drains or by tile in your fields. If a ditch needs to be cleaned or dug, every rate payer who has anything draining into that ditch pays a share of the costs. Even the township pays into it ( which seems odd to me ) because they have road side drainage.
As long as the drains are working properly then all you pay is property tax. Farm land is taxed at 25% of residential. In no way are you allowed to block a water course or a drain. You can dig ponds to store water and could probably collect rain water without any problem. But I could be wrong about this as I've never tried. There's no shortage of water here so it's not viewed in the same way as drier areas.
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  #9  
Old 08-11-2012, 01:55 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by elchivito View Post
Rain that happens to fall on private property doesn't necessarily become the property of the owner, particularly if it's part of the recharge for a contested or protected stream. While this is pretty dopey, it's just a tiny part of the much larger issue of water in the west.
My house water comes from an artesian spring on my place that my family improved over a hundred years ago. The unused portion returns to the creek in a tail ditch. The Salt River Project in Phoenix long ago locked up the surface water rights to the entire Verde River drainage to provide water for Phoenix. There is a huge adjudication court case that's been going on for about 25 years now and I don't expect to see end for that many more. The utility wants to meter all private wells and springs that can be shown to be part of the recharge of the Oak Creek-Verde-Salt River system and charge the well and spring owners for use. If they win, even wells within a quarter mile of the creek or river will be redefined as "surface water" and will be metered.
Water issues in the west are extremely important and extremely valuable. If there is any kind of scheme to deny a claimant their water, the lawyers have probably already filed a motion...

It would seem that this guy maybe didn't do his homework or live up to his agreements... Story is that he had permits for these ponds that were revoked after a period of time. Why did they cancel the permits?? The evaporative water cost was likely a factor in the original decision to grant the permits. Something caused a revocation of the permits. My guess is either poor stewardship or deliberate misuse of the captive water.
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  #10  
Old 08-11-2012, 06:31 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hatterasguy View Post
In CT the DEP would shoot you for diverting a watercourse like that. Than the local wetlands board would fine you into bankruptcy.
And the bottled water companies would be very angry with you
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  #11  
Old 08-11-2012, 10:30 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cmbdiesel View Post
Water issues in the west are extremely important and extremely valuable. If there is any kind of scheme to deny a claimant their water, the lawyers have probably already filed a motion...

It would seem that this guy maybe didn't do his homework or live up to his agreements... Story is that he had permits for these ponds that were revoked after a period of time. Why did they cancel the permits?? The evaporative water cost was likely a factor in the original decision to grant the permits. Something caused a revocation of the permits. My guess is either poor stewardship or deliberate misuse of the captive water.
If you have use permits in place or grandfathered rights, you're going to be watched very closely and you're correct, somebody will jump on the slightest misuse. This fellow did something to put himself on the radar.
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  #12  
Old 08-11-2012, 11:34 AM
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Now this literally qualifies as a "slippery slope". ;D
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  #13  
Old 08-11-2012, 03:34 PM
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I read about a case like this many years ago. The state involved relied on a law from Roman times that held that rainwater was the property of the state.

No problem with this in Texas, where water is considered a mineral. If it is on your property it is yours, if it is under your property it is yours.

So I guess if it is above your property it is also yours.
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  #14  
Old 08-11-2012, 03:41 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pooka View Post
I read about a case like this many years ago. The state involved relied on a law from Roman times that held that rainwater was the property of the state.

No problem with this in Texas, where water is considered a mineral. If it is on your property it is yours, if it is under your property it is yours.

So I guess if it is above your property it is also yours.
and the sweat balls dripping off your nose are yours too
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  #15  
Old 08-11-2012, 03:42 PM
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And.....

Ex-Prez G. W. Bush had a home built while he was Governor of Texas on his ranch. He asked two guys from the U. of Texas to put in every energy saving thing they could think of. He had in mind almost a home that would experiment with whatever they could come up with.

One thing was ALL the water from the roof was allowed to drain off the edges of the roof and was then collected in grates that ran around the outside of the house. This caught not only roof rain but some ground run-off as well.

The water was then stored in a large underground cistern so it could be used to water the yard and plants when there was no rain to do so. Also a covered patio was built above the cistern and this allowed there to be at least one cool spot in the house that did not depend on A/C or any other outside source for cooling.

Most people would not think of Bush as some sort of Eco-freak, but his house in Crawford is full of energy saving touches. The water saving part of the house, though, is one of the most important.

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