Collect rainwater, go to jail?

[sao123]

He was diverting water from a tributary of one of the creeks in the area, thus, depriving the rest of the community from the use of this water. He is hoarding it for his own needs. Not good.

He is not blocking an actual stream...
His yard is no more a tributary than the parking lot at the mall.

Surface runoff is not a tributary until it reaches the defined watercourse.

 

[cybrsage]

He is not blocking an actual stream...
His yard is no more a tributary than the parking lot at the mall.

Surface runoff is not a tributary until it reaches the defined watercourse.

Since the channel created by the runoff is deep enough to require him to install a flood gate to stop the flow, comparing it to a flat parking lot is silly.

 

[sao123]

Since the channel created by the runoff is deep enough to require him to install a flood gate to stop the flow, comparing it to a flat parking lot is silly.

Those gates are on his reservior which is collecting the runoff... its not blocking a pre-existing stream.

 

[cybrsage]

He built the reservior by blocking the natural runoff.

EDIT:
From an article with actual information in it:

“There are dams across channels, water channels where the water would normally flow if it were not for the dam and so those dams are stopping the water from flowing in the channel and storing it- holding it so it cannot flow downstream,” Paul told CNSNews.com.


In 2007, a Jackson County Circuit Court judge denied Harrington’s permits and found that he had illegally “withdrawn the water at issue from appropriation other than for the City of Medford.”
According to Paul, Harrington entered a guilty plea at the time, received three years probation and was ordered to open up the water gates.
“A very short period of time following the expiration of his probation, he once again closed the gates and re-filled the reservoirs,” Paul told CNSNews.com. “So, this has been going on for some time and I think frankly the court felt that Mr. Harrington was not getting the message and decided that they’d already given him probation once and required him to open the gates and he refilled his reservoirs and it was business as usual for him, so I think the court wanted — it felt it needed — to give a stiffer penalty to get Mr. Harrington’s attention.”

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/oregon-man-sentenced-30-days-jail-collecting-rainwater-his-property

 

[piasabird]

I thought they were going to say he was catching the water off his roof or something like that. I wonder what they would say about that?

 

[piasabird]

The key here is that once the water hits the ground it is considered ground water which he does not have the right to. I think it might be interesting to contrast how they manage the water there and how they do it in Boise area out in idaho. They have a system of ditches they use to irrigate the crops and it is jointly managed for the common good. You might call this cooperation or some form of socialism. However, they just learned to work for the common good instead of letting it pass down the stream. By catching it and preserving the water, they have enough to use during the planting season and the crucial growing season.

 

[Nintendesert]

The key here is that once the water hits the ground it is considered ground water which he does not have the right to. I think it might be interesting to contrast how they manage the water there and how they do it in Boise area out in idaho. They have a system of ditches they use to irrigate the crops and it is jointly managed for the common good. You might call this cooperation or some form of socialism. However, they just learned to work for the common good instead of letting it pass down the stream. By catching it and preserving the water, they have enough to use during the planting season and the crucial growing season.

So instead of letting it pass down the stream, they fuck over everyone downriver for their own common good.

 

[piasabird]

It is just a different way of managing water. Idaho is a dry farming area. Much of the western United States is considered to be in a dry farming area like California, Nevada, ETC. In the South they divert the Colorado to provide water to other areas that are not even downstream like California. What gives California the right to the colorado river?

The point is there is only so much water Someone has to manage it. Just south of Utah they have mountain fed streams and rivers. Utah for instance depends heavily on snowfall for its irrigation. South Dakota is the headwaters and flows into the Missouri/Mississippi Rivers.

The rockie mountains provides plenty of water from the mountains to the colorado. It is all Geography.

I am just pointing out that in different areas they manage water in different ways. I am sure the people in california appreciate the water they are getting.

So tell me where the waters from Idaho flow to? Can you even?

http://www.ktvb.com/news/Water-advisory-group-urges-farmers-to-reduce-chemical-runoff-158870235.html

Idaho has an interesting town and a magnificent sight to see at twin falls:

http://www.tfid.org/

So there is a somewhat large area in twin falls with a river that runs through the center of the town.

In more northwestern part of Idaho there is an area with some deep gorgres that have some irrigation dams also I have one picture or two I want to post but they are too large. I will try to put them on Yahoo or somewhere where I can link them. The western part of Idaho is a huge milk and cheese and cattle farming area mostly for large dairy farms.

 

[sao123]

He built the reservior by blocking the natural runoff.

EDIT:
From an article with actual information in it:


http://cnsnews.com/news/article/oregon-man-sentenced-30-days-jail-collecting-rainwater-his-property

Again... read the definition I posted from texas and several other western states... (post 45)

Surface runoff is legal to redirect, as long as it is done BEFORE it gets to a defined watercourse, AKA a stream or ditch.

 

[cybrsage]

He blocked ditches. He uses gates to block ditches. Again, from the article I quoted in the post you quoted.

"There are dams across channels, water channels where the water would normally flow if it were not for the dam and so those dams are stopping the water from flowing in the channel and storing it."

 

[dmcowen674]

Collect rainwater, go to jail?

All mineral and water rights belong to the Government and Corporations in the U.S.

Everyone knows this.

 

[Bobmctx]

In Texas we own the water below our property lines and above them, so the government has no right to it. Only problem with that is my neighbor can pump all he wants from below his property lines and pump out the water below my property lines. But at least I have a rainwater system and its legal.
Bobmctx

 

[IGBT]

all the more reason to get the eco-KOOKS out of the public policy loop.

 

[IronWing]

all the more reason to get the eco-KOOKS out of the public policy loop.

Explain your statement in the context of water rights.

 

[brycejones]

all the more reason to get the eco-KOOKS out of the public policy loop.

This has nothing to do with so called Eco kooks but with long established water rights. Are you really trying to argue against private property rights in the west?