OK So Who Does Own the Rainwater?

hollydolly

hollydolly

SF VIP
Location
London England
Apparently the American Government thinks it does, because it has sentenced a man to Jail time for collecting rainwater on his OWN property.

I can hardly believe I've just read this , the poor man, he's distraught...he's got 30 days jail time and a $1500 fine for collecting the rainwater without a permit which he'd already applied for , received and they then rescinded for no apparent reason

http://yournewswire.com/man-gets-prison-sentence-for-collecting-rainwater-on-his-own-property/
 

Eh? rainwater is still free as far as I know, surely?Here in England anyway, we have a rainwater barrel and collect lots of the stuff, and why not? it's better for the plants than tap water.Did this man in the U.S want to collect industrial amounts?
 
Sounds like he's doing more than just collecting rainwater and snow runoff - sounds like he's actively damming up waterways, which he has been fined for before.
 
Ohhh ok..wonder why not.:(..ok let me copy and paste some of it...













Collecting rainwater on your own property can now lead to jail time, as proven by a man from Oregon who was just sentenced to prison for doing just that. Who owns the rain? The US government, apparently, now. Not so long ago, it was common practice across much of the world to collect rainwater into man made wells on your property as a means of farming, irrigation, and having fresh clean water. It was just as common as canning your own food, having knowledge of at least some basic survival skills, and being self-sufficient.
It wasn’t even that many generations ago that all of this was common practice – people born before WWII were pretty adept at these skills, as they were a necessity to survival. One of the main (and easiest) ways to ensure survival? Collecting rainwater on your own property. The practical uses for storing and collecting rainwater are numerous and many people across the world in rural areas still do it today for all of the reasons listed above. However, over the past few years, laws making the collection of rainwater illegal have been causing an uproar across the US.
Now, a man from Grey Point, Oregon has been sentenced to thirty days in prison for storing collected rainwater on his very own property – and the public is outraged.


Gary Harrington of Eagle Point, Ore., says he plans to appeal his conviction in Jackson County (Ore.) Circuit Court on nine misdemeanor charges under a 1925 law for having what state water managers called “three illegal reservoirs” on his property – and for filling the reservoirs with rainwater and snow runoff.
“The government is bullying,” Harrington told CNSNews.com in an interview Thursday.
“They’ve just gotten to be big bullies and if you just lay over and die and give up, that just makes them bigger bullies. So, we as Americans, we need to stand on our constitutional rights, on our rights as citizens and hang tough. This is a good country, we’ll prevail,” he said.
The court has given Harrington two weeks to report to the Jackson County Jail to begin serving his sentence.
- See more at: http://yournewswire.com/man-gets-pr...s-own-property/#sthash.Gy8geDfz.rcvdNUCf.dpuf
 
SifuPhil said:
Sounds like he's doing more than just collecting rainwater and snow runoff - sounds like he's actively damming up waterways, which he has been fined for before.
Click to expand...


Actually, it sounds like he had permits in hand and the government arbitrarily retracted them. I've heard also that in Nevada you can't even have a rain barrel to collect roof run off. I think the same law is applicable in many states to the point where the NYTimes actually did a piece on how it's now LEGAL to save the water from your downspouts. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/29/us/29rain.html?_r=0

"...Just 75 miles west of here, in Utah, collecting rainwater from the roof is still illegal unless the roof owner also owns water rights on the ground; the same rigid rules, with a few local exceptions, also apply in Washington State...."



Who would have thought though that someone would actually go to jail for saving water! Governments run amok or what?
 
Debby said:
Actually, it sounds like he had three rain barrels. I think the same law is applicable in many states to the point where the NYTimes actually did a piece on how it's now LEGAL
Click to expand...

Seems funny there's any question about it being legal. For eons rain barrels collected water to wash ladies hair because rainwater is so soft.
 
hollydolly said:
Apparently the American Government thinks it does, because it has sentenced a man to Jail time for collecting rainwater on his OWN property.

I can hardly believe I've just read this , the poor man, he's distraught...he's got 30 days jail time and a $1500 fine for collecting the rainwater without a permit which he'd already applied for , received and they then rescinded for no apparent reason

http://yournewswire.com/man-gets-prison-sentence-for-collecting-rainwater-on-his-own-property/
Click to expand...
That is going on here In the Adelaide hills where there are many hobby farms and Fruit orchards.Many have dams to catch water and the goverment want to put meters on the dams so the farmers/ fruit growers have to pay for their own water....
The farmers have paid to have the dams built now they have to pay for water they have caught on their own land .....There Is a man who lives in the Adel Hills who phones talk back radio at least once a week and he is warning householders the same is going to apply to us in the near future ,The SA goverment insisted everyone have rain water and it looks likely we will end up with meters on the tanks so we will have to pay the goverment for water we catch off OUR roofs
 
Last edited:
There are a number of areas in the US that have strict controls over rainwater and runoff.

My in laws lived in Colorado (NW of Ft. Collins) and it was illegal for them to collect or impede rainwater. They were allowed to direct the downspouts from their home and barn toward landscaping, but it was illegal to collect it or impede it in any manner. Being from Iowa where we have ample water supplies, it was always hard for me to fathom the water issues, laws and regulations to which they had to abide.
 
That's just so hard to believe, that a government would have laws on the books like that. I could see if it's in an ecologically-sensitive area, but c'mon ... a small barrel or two?

The more I see happening in this country the more I'd like to move someplace else.
 
It sounds crazy to me.if rain falls on your property it's up to you if you want to keep it or not.Glad it doesn't apply here, we value the rain barrels.
 
Could be about a concern for acid rain which wouldn't be good for hair washing...
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top