Collect rainwater, go to jail?

[mrCide]

http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120726/NEWS/207260314

How is there not outrage over this?

By Mark Freeman
Mail Tribune

A rural Eagle Point man was sentenced to 30 days in jail Wednesday for filling what state water managers have called three illegal reservoirs on his property.

Gary Harrington was also fined more than $1,500 for nine misdemeanor convictions for filling his reservoirs with rain and snow runoff that the state says is owned by the Medford Water Commission. He was given two weeks to report to the Jackson County Jail to begin serving his sentence.

Harrington said he stores the water mainly for fire protection and has pledged to appeal his convictions.

"Thirty days in jail for catching rainwater?" Harrington said Wednesday to the Mail Tribune.

"We live in an extreme wildfire area and here the government is going to open the valves and really waste all the water right now, at the start of peak fire season," Harrington said.

At the center of the case was a 1925 state law giving the water commission exclusive rights to all the water in Big Butte Creek, its tributaries and Big Butte Springs — the core of the city's municipal water supply.

In court filings Harrington had argued that he's not diverting water from the creek system, merely capturing rainwater and snowmelt from his 172 acres along Crowfoot Road.

Harrington has maintained that this runoff, called "diffused water," does not fall under the state water-resources jurisdiction and does not violate the 1925 act.

In the past, water managers have concluded that the runoff is a tributary of nearby Crowfoot Creek and thus subject to the law.

A six-person jury earlier this month sided with the state on nine misdemeanor charges. They were three counts each on charges of illegal use of water denied by a watermaster, unauthorized use of water and interfering with a lawfully established head gate or water box.

The charges are all misdemeanors. Harrington pleaded guilty to similar charges in 2002 and applied for permits for his reservoirs, but they were denied.

At the request of the Jackson County District Attorney's Office, Harrington's case was prosecuted by the state Department of Justice. DOJ prosecutor Patrick Flanagan handled the case, and he could not be reached Wednesday for comment.

Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470, or email at mfreeman@mailtribune.com.

 

[soulcougher73]

America fuck yea!!

:thumbsdown::thumbsdown:

 

[Genx87]

Surprised the EPA didnt come after him for messing with a wetland. Or the FDA for potentially selling unpurified water.

Remember, home of the free.

 

[Jaskalas]

Government ensures the people downstream own the people upstream.

Take it as a sign of fights to come. Water will be more valuable than gold if we double our population once more.

 

[OutHouse]

sounds like he went too far to get the attention of the water overlords. capturing rainwater coming off the roof of your house or barns into a rain barrel is one thing, but capturing water from a running tributary like what this guy was doing is quite another. how much water was he hording?

In court filings Harrington had argued that he's not diverting water from the creek system, merely capturing rainwater and snowmelt from his 172 acres along Crowfoot Road.

Harrington has maintained that this runoff, called "diffused water," does not fall under the state water-resources jurisdiction and does not violate the 1925 act.

In the past, water managers have concluded that the runoff is a tributary of nearby Crowfoot Creek and thus subject to the law.

 

[cybrsage]

So if I buy up a bunch of land on a mountain, I can prevent the snow melt from feeding any of the downstream rivers.

 

[JimKiler]

sounds like he went too far to get the attention of the water overlords. capturing rainwater coming off the roof of your house or barns into a rain barrel is one thing, but capturing water from a running tributary like what this guy was doing is quite another. how much water was he hording?

Yes the article saying he is tampering with a box and if it was just rain and water on his land he would be in the right so there must be more to it to get convicted.

 

[cybrsage]

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

 

[Pr0d1gy]

Didn't you know the government owns the rain and the snow?

Fucking bullshit.

 

[OutHouse]

From an article with actual information in it:


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

thanks, i knew there was a lot more to this.

OP im not outraged at all. in my book the asshat deserves 45 days in the county jail not 30.

 

[OutHouse]

Didn't you know the government owns the rain and the snow?

Fucking bullshit.

fail

 

[Pr0d1gy]

fail

How so? Does he not have the right to collect melting snow and rainwater?

 

[Genx87]

From an article with actual information in it:


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

Thanks for the info.

 

[Icepick]

After reading the entire article and putting this case into context it sounds like this Gary Harrington is going out of his way to be an asshole. I applaud the local government for enforcing the law and for putting this jackass in his place.

 

[Icepick]

How so? Does he not have the right to collect melting snow and rainwater?

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.

 

[OutHouse]

How so? Does he not have the right to collect melting snow and rainwater?

fail again.

read cybrsage post and news link.

 

[Matt1970]

Harrington said the case first began in 2002, when state water managers told him there were complaints about the three “reservoirs” – ponds – on his more than 170 acres of land.

According to Oregon water laws, all water is publicly owned. Therefore, anyone who wants to store any type of water on their property must first obtain a permit from state water managers.

Harrington said he applied for three permits to legally house reservoirs for storm and snow water runoff on his property. One of the “reservoirs” had been on his property for 37 years, he said.

Though the state Water Resources Department initially approved his permits in 2003, the state – and a state court -- ultimately reversed the decision.

“They issued me my permits. I had my permits in hand and they retracted them just arbitrarily, basically. They took them back and said ‘No, you can’t have them,’ so I’ve been fighting it ever since,” Harrington told CNSNews.com.

Seems like it over some complaints and permits.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

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.

Was he diverting the whole thing or just creating a run-off?

 

[Matt1970]

fail

He is pretty close to the mark.

"According to Oregon water laws, all water is publicly owned. Therefore, anyone who wants to store any type of water on their property must first obtain a permit from state water managers."

 

[IronWing]

Western water law is a strange beast based on a first in use, first in right principle. The property owner's water rights were junior to the water commissions's water rights. When there isn't enough water for everybody the water master puts a call on the river and the junior users get cut off. Users might negotiate on this but in law seniors get their entire allotment before juniors get anything.

The defendant claimed he was just keeping what fell on his land. In order to do this legally you need to catch water that falls on your property before it hits the ground. Once the water hits the ground it is subject to prior appropriation under the water laws. Here in Arizona the Game and Fish Dept wanted to build wildlife drinkers to replace dried up springs. To get the water for these drinkers in areas where all the surface water was already tied up by senior rights they had to build above ground steel collection systems that catch rain water and divert it to storage basins. Here's one west of Tucson. The defendant didn't this. Instead he dammed up surface water which is a bozo no-no.

Contrary to the defendant's insistance that he was standing on his rights he was, in fact, violating the prior existing rights of the downstream users.

 

[OutHouse]

He is pretty close to the mark.

"According to Oregon water laws, all water is publicly owned. Therefore, anyone who wants to store any type of water on their property must first obtain a permit from state water managers."

who, Prodigy?

 

[Pr0d1gy]

Instead he dammed up surface water which is a bozo no-no.

If he damned up the river then he is absolutely wrong. My bad guys.

 

[OutHouse]

Was he diverting the whole thing or just creating a run-off?

it does not matter.

cant you read? Christ if you read the news stories posted on this you have answered your own question.

 

[cybrsage]

thanks, i knew there was a lot more to this.

OP im not outraged at all. in my book the asshat deserves 45 days in the county jail not 30.

Thanks for the info.

I figured as much too, since (at least in PA) a lot of farmers create retaining ponds to hold rainwater in case of drought. I have seen many create lakes from a stream, but they allow the stream to continue through after the lake is filled.

This guy totally damned the water flow. Had he just made a few lakes and then let the rest of the water flow as it normally would, I bet he would be OK. Bascially, dig the water way wider and deeper in one spot.

 

[OutHouse]

If he damned up the river then he is absolutely wrong. My bad guys.

its a tributarty which feeds the river. big no no. I live in the west and one thing you dont fuck with is water. I have a farmers canal behind my house and the thought of dropping in a pump to water my lawn has crossed my mind but spending a significant amount of time in jail has stopped me from doing it.