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

[uscitizen]

From AZ water laws.

The right to the use of surface water must be maintained at a minimum of every 5 years, with few exceptions. If the use is not made over a 5 year period (unless the use was not made through no fault of the owner) the right reverts back to the state.

SUMMARY OF ARIZONA WATER LAW

The ignorance of some people amaze me.

Spend a bit of time and educate yourself on water laws in our country.

 

[buckeye45_73]

Under Oregon law, all water is publicly owned.

Uh that sound pretty commie....if its on my property step off bitch! The guy was on his own property, big fucking deal he got some water....you commie clowns are hilarious.
And no liberatarians are not for these stupid laws......if the guy had been raiding other people's property yes, I'm for the law, but you own? NO, he was within his right and Oregon can kiss my family jewels

 

[Ariux]

He was collecting water from his 170 acres. I get the impression that he was drying up streams that other people depend on. The 30 days of jail is for being a repeat offender.

It's not like he has a barrel under his house's downspout.

 

[ScienceRocks]

The government must control everything you do in life. Small government is good as you have more FREEDOM.

 

[auditor0007]

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

How right you are. Just wait until those southern states run dry and start demanding water from the great lakes. Waiting for the next civil war when New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigian, and Minnesota want to secede.

 

[auditor0007]

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.

Unfortunately, it's a little more complicated than that. He has a fairly large property where water flows naturally downstream. He is diverting that downstream flow so he can hoard the water. Based on the article it seems that he has set up some system of dams to divert the water, and this seems to be where the real problem lies.

 

[Noomi]

Oregon water laws state that all water is publicly owned. Doesn't this mean that the members of the public own the water that falls onto their land, therefore allowing them to collect it?

What a stupid law. This guy needs to appeal and beat the council at its own game. I have never heard of a more ridiculous excuse for ruining someone's life.

 

[bigrebnc1775]

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.

There is something terribly wrong with a state that has a law such as that in the books.
What next Ban wells?

 

[Inthemiddle]

Big Brother wants control of rain too. Go figure.

I know this may go over some of your heads but I believe the issue is The Diversion Of Ground Water.

On a larger scale this same issue is fought over in many places. It seems simple that the man should be within his rights but there is more to it than that.

In some ways rain water run off is the property of the commons. I'm not saying that in this situation the man is wrong. I am saying that what he is doing MAY be illegal if his water diversion affects someone else's access to ground water.

It is not as open and shut as it could be seen.

Isn't rainwater run off part of a watershed?

Most technically, watershed refers to those naturally created and occurring bodies of water that are created by the collection of rainwater and/or snow melt, often times combining into larger bodies, with an eventual empying point. For example, an extensive network of streams, creeks, and rivers across some six or seven states in the US mid-atlantic region create the Chesapeake Bay watershed. These bodies all naturally (ultimately) drain into the Chesapeake Bay.

By contrast, rainwater runoff is technically that water which has not yet reached such a body, to include water collected by artificial means with the intent or future result of becoming part of the watershed. In a way, you could say that rainwater runoff is to watershed as embryo is to fetus.

 

[editec]

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.

NOT just overseas.

I believe that a SWISS corporation now owns Poland Springs here in Maine.

There is a move afoot by some international corporations to purchase sources of water around the world.

Long term players (and what are corporations if NOT long term players?) do stuff like that.

Hell I'm considering putting in a well, just in case, even though I am on (and have no choice BUT to be on) town water.

 

[strollingbones]

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

i think the point is that no one owns the water......if you collect all the rain water you damage the natural flora that depends on it...

 

[tererun]

Think and use your brains for a moment. The law was probablyu put in place to keep people from damming up water on their property and making it harder for the low lying people to get water. It also prevents a person from making a dangerous situation by damming up water that might cause a flood if the dam breaks.

I don'ty know if these laws were a throwback to a different time and are unneeded now, but it seems pretty obvious the laws had a purpose despite the twits here who think every law is a police state.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

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.

Oregon is Progressive

Very Progressive

 

[notatallanti]

Big Brother? Isn't this a state's right being discussed, not Federal?
Can't states regulate water usage?
What is 'ownership', anyway?
How can a person 'own' land, water or air?
Wisdom, not force, is what we need more of.

 

[bigrebnc1775]

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

i think the point is that no one owns the water......if you collect all the rain water you damage the natural flora that depends on it...

It would appear that the government owns the water, if not the man would not have been sentenced to jail for collecting it.

 

[bigrebnc1775]

Big Brother? Isn't this a state's right being discussed, not Federal?
Can't states regulate water usage?
What is 'ownership', anyway?
How can a person 'own' land, water or air?
Wisdom, not force, is what we need more of.

Yes it is a state issue and yes I own the land I live on, and what is mine on my land is mine and no one else, and yes I will defend it even against the government up to death.

 

[Nemo]

Our rights exist by law enacted by our elected representatives in Congress and state and local legislative bodies. The way to change the law is through the legislative process, not defiance of its authority. Those that run afoul of the law will not receive its protection and suffer its sanctions.

 

[Inthemiddle]

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.

Oregon is Progressive

Very Progressive

And what's your point? The fact that the state is progressive somehow excuses this man from obeying the law?

 

[bigrebnc1775]

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.

Oregon is Progressive

Very Progressive

And what's your point? The fact that the state is progressive somehow excuses this man from obeying the law?

It's progressive because of the FUCKED UP LAW.

 

[notatallanti]

Limited thinking results in unnecessary distress.