Police State: Man Sentenced To 30 Days In Jail, Collecting Rainwater On His Property

[paulitician]

Sure, lets send a good law abiding Taxpayer to jail with brutal murderers, rapists, and child molesters, for collecting rainwater on his own property. Sounds brilliant Big Brother, just brilliant.


A rural Oregon man was sentenced Wednesday to 30 days in jail and over $1,500 in fines because he had three reservoirs on his property to collect and use rainwater.

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.

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...

Read More:
Oregon Man Sentenced to 30 Days in Jail -- for Collecting Rainwater on His Property | CNSNews.com
DRUDGE REPORT 2012®

 

[High_Gravity]

Huh? what the fuck did he do wrong?

 

[strollingbones]

the next coming war will not be over politics nor race but it will be about water....

 

[strollingbones]

high places with limited water have a lot of regulations on collections

 

[Sunni Man]

So now the government owns the rain falling out of the sky??

 

[Leweman]

Wow ... way to go Oregon.

 

[High_Gravity]

high places with limited water have a lot of regulations on collections

Sounds a little crazy to me to send a man to jail for collecting rain water on his own property.

 

[paulitician]

high places with limited water have a lot of regulations on collections

Big Brother wants control of rain too. Go figure.

 

[Wry Catcher]

Huh? what the fuck did he do wrong?

Apparently he knowingly violated a law. Since he was sentenced to 30 days in the County Jail a prosecutor and a judge (maybe even a jury) believed he was guilty.

 

[ClosedCaption]

This is crazy...but if you think big brother wants to control the water you should see what these Corporations are doing overseas water resources.

 

[tjvh]

Huh? what the fuck did he do wrong?

Apparently he knowingly violated a law. Since he was sentenced to 30 days in the County Jail a prosecutor and a judge (maybe even a jury) believed he was guilty.

Did you read the OP? This> "According to Oregon water laws, all water is publicly owned."

 

[RDD_1210]

Another great example of that central Federal Government over stepping it's boundaries.

 

[paulitician]

Yes, jail is where this evil-doer belongs. He's clearly a threat to our American way of life. WTG Big Brother! Thank you for keeping us safe from these subversive Un-American Rainwater-collectors. Now i can sleep at night.

 

[Sunni Man]

Only terrorists collect rain water.

He should be in Gitmo

 

[RDD_1210]

Only terrorists collect rain water.

He should be in Gitmo

You'd know, right?

 

[Papageorgio]

high places with limited water have a lot of regulations on collections

Not a high place the altitude is 1,216 ft. It is Oregon laws that complicate the issues. In Oregon you are not allowed to block public access to lakes, rivers, ponds, streams or the ocean. All beaches along waterfronts are public property. The Eagle Point area gets over 19 inches of rain a year and the runoff from the mountains is what powers Oregon, Nevada, parts of California, Arizona and Utah. Water is pretty sacred in that state.

 

[BlindBoo]

According to Oregon water laws, all water is publicly owned.

the city of Medford holds exclusive rights to “all core sources of water” in the Big Butte Creek watershed and its tributaries.

Harrington constructed dams to block a tributary to the Big Butte

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.”

 

[g5000]

The guy is doing more than "collecting rainwater". He constructed dams across a waterway to divert water used by the city of Medford.

Harrington constructed dams to block a tributary to the Big Butte, which Medford uses for its water supply.

“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.

Harrington, however, argued in court that that he is not diverting water from Big Butte Creek, but the dams capturing the rainwater and snow runoff – or “diffused water” – are on his own property and that therefore the runoff does not fall under the jurisdiction of the state water managers, nor does it not violate the 1925 act.

 

[paulitician]

Well, if Big Brother says he's an evil-doer, than you know it just has to be true.

 

[g5000]

Harrington had gotten in trouble before for damming the river and they did not put him in jail.

He is a repeat offender:

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.”