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Collecting Rainwater Is Now Illegal!


krillen

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So, rainwater, in certain climate districts, provide a substantial, sometimes the ONLY, contribution to the sub-surface water needed for eventual use even many miles away.

OK, I guess that makes SOME sense.

I don't know, I'm a little confused. I hope that certified geologists or whatever are an integral part in the debate of the restrictions for a particular district.

I hope so too, unfortunately I doubt it. The scientists used are probably on a companies' payroll. The company who is paying the scientists more than likely have something to gain by supporting this law.

As noted above, there's a battle for freshwater coming.

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i assume uncovered rain water collection can make you ill and urban living has made the populace ignorant of that which is common sense to people who dont get theirs readily out of the tap. its best to drink running water from a spring or secondly a river and boiling water before using kills germs. common sense to those who were taught, im sure a permit insures they have been taught and that they wont ignorantly supply masses of water to the unknowing.

you can also use limestone to purify water

I see what you are saying. But, if you collect rainwater for watering your garden or plants, I don't see how that is "dangerous". Also, for drinking the water, just boil it, and filter it through a Berkeley Filter or something similar. Check out: http://rainwaterharvesting.tamu.edu/in-home-use/

The above website has many manuals and documents explaining how to collect rainwater and use it safely. No classes or permits or money required.

I'm sorry, but the government has no right to tell people what to do with RAIN water on their own property.

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I see what you are saying. But, if you collect rainwater for watering your garden or plants, I don't see how that is "dangerous". Also, for drinking the water, just boil it, and filter it through a Berkeley Filter or something similar. Check out: http://rainwaterharv...du/in-home-use/

The above website has many manuals and documents explaining how to collect rainwater and use it safely. No classes or permits or money required.

I'm sorry, but the government has no right to tell people what to do with RAIN water on their own property.

Besides, real tea can only be cooked with soft rainwater.

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On a second thought, if the rain water belongs to somebody else we should bring a class action against said individual for not avoiding that it swamps our gardens.

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this is one of the most idiotic things i have heard in yrs, rain water collected from downspouts, roofs, does not compare to roads, empty fields, empty lots, tree farms, driveways, sidewalks, parking lots, gardens, trees, lakes, rivers, oceans, creeks, ponds, state parks, highways, toll roads, freeways, front and back yards, rain that hits sides of buildings, trees etc that runs down to the ground, i could go on...... not everyone in a neighborhood collects rainwater, one rooftop will not cause a drought, even 100,000 will not cause a drought.... Rain falling on my property will do as laws of gravity does, go straight down the path of least resistance and will not move 3 miles over to a farmers crops which needs water.... WTH?? Rain falling on my roof, then collected will not affect anything at all. on a side note, there are states, municipalities that have made rainfall from your property taxable, reason is, it goes into the public drainage system.... either way, the government will get your hard earned money. and these are the lawmakers the public votes for..... you want this to stop, change the public, or change the lawmakers... only way water can be wasted is if you remove it from the planet... its all recycled from your bladder to rain to steam to clouds to lakes, oceans, snow, ice............ idiotic......

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Reminds me of the "Window Tax"....

The window tax was a property tax based on the number of windows in a house. It was a significant social, cultural, and architectural force in England, France and Scotland during the 18th and 19th centuries. To avoid the tax some houses from the period can be seen to have bricked-up window-spaces (ready to be glazed at a later date), as a result of the tax. It was introduced in 1696 and was repealed in 1851, 156 years after first being introduced. Spain and France both had window taxes as well for similar reasons.

The term "daylight robbery" is thought to have originated from the window tax as it was described by some as a "tax on light"

Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_tax

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If someone else owns the rain, any time there is rain water damage...they should be sued.

Most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of...wait...almost...Maryland is now going to tax you for the amount of rain that falls on your concrete and asphalt covered property...supposedly to pay for cleaning up the Bay...

http://news.yahoo.co...7--finance.html

Remarkably, this tax came just about the same time increased state gun regulations were passed...leading the firearm manufacturer "Beretta" to say it was going to relocate...Beretta paid around 30 million a year in state taxes...coincidence that they now need to tax rain?...I don't think so...

Edited by Jeremiah65
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If someone else owns the rain, any time there is rain water damage...they should be sued.

Most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of...wait...almost...Maryland is now going to tax you for the amount of rain that falls on your concrete and asphalt covered property...supposedly to pay for cleaning up the Bay...

http://news.yahoo.co...7--finance.html

Remarkably, this tax came just about the same time increased state gun regulations were passed...leading the firearm manufacturer "Beretta" to say it was going to relocate...Beretta paid around 30 million a year in state taxes...coincidence that they now need to tax rain?...I don't think so...

Gotta get that tax money somewhere, I guess. Cause you know their not going to stop their outrageous spending habits...

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I'm so glad I left Maryland. I lived in the Western part of the state...mostly farmers...good people. But the Eastern part of the state...Baltimore city and County and Prince George's County...is the Democrat haven...and where the majority of the state's population dwells.

Maryland def is not going to change their spending habits...it's the "gimme-gimme" state now...The state motto is "The Free state"...Ha!...not anymore...

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I will say this the man who is in jail now in Medford for collecting water on his land was fined because of a very old law, nothing new. The water district and the city used this archaic law and not any new legislation to go after him. Just wanted to clarify that..

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Last time it rained the ducks were drinking the water in the puddles which had formed.....is that illegal?

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I will say this the man who is in jail now in Medford for collecting water on his land was fined because of a very old law, nothing new. The water district and the city used this archaic law and not any new legislation to go after him. Just wanted to clarify that..

Is this the antiquated law you mean:

In the State of Colorado, USA, the installation of rainwater collection barrels is subject to the Constitution of the State of Colorado, state statutes and case law.[14] This is a consequence of the system of water rights in the state; the movement and holding of rainwater is inextricably linked with ownership of water rights and is enshrined in the constitution of the State of Colorado. The use of water in Colorado and other western states is governed by what is known as the prior appropriation doctrine. This system of water allocation controls who uses how much water, the types of uses allowed, and when those waters can be used. This is often referred to as the priority system or "first in time, first in right." Since all water arriving in Colorado has been allocated to "senior water right holders" since the 1850s, rainwater prevented from running downstream may not be available to its rightful owner

Prior appropriation water rights, sometimes known as the Colorado Doctrine in reference to the U.S. Supreme Court case Wyoming v. Colorado, is a system of allocating water rights from a water source that is markedly different from riparian water rights. Water law in the western United States generally follows the appropriation doctrine which developed due to the scarcity of water in that area.

The appropriation doctrine originated in Colorado in 1872 when the territorial court ruled in Yunker v. Nichols, 1 Colo. 552 (1872), that a non-riparian user who had previously applied part of the water from a stream to beneficial use had superior rights to the water with respect to a riparian owner who claimed a right to use of all the water at a later time. The question was not squarely presented again to the Colorado Court until 1882 when in the landmark case, Coffin v. Left Hand Ditch Co., 6 Colo. 443 (1882), the court explicitly adopted the appropriation doctrine and rejected the riparian doctrine, citing Colorado irrigation and mining practices and the nature of the climate. The decision in Coffin ruled that prior to adoption of the appropriation doctrine in the Colorado Constitution of 1876 that the riparian doctrine had never been the law in Colorado.

Edited by Kowalski
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No the law is in Oregon specifically I think in Jackson county..this article is from the first time he was jailed, he's back in for the same thing right now...

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/man-sentenced-30-days-catching-rain-water-own-property-enters-jail

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No the law is in Oregon specifically I think in Jackson county..this article is from the first time he was jailed, he's back in for the same thing right now...

http://cnsnews.com/n...rty-enters-jail

Okay, thanks for posting this!

Harrington was found guilty two weeks ago of breaking a 1925 law for having, what state water managers called “three illegal reservoirs” on his property. He was convicted of nine misdemeanors, sentenced to 30 days in jail and fined over $1500 for collecting rainwater and snow runoff on his property.

Wow. A 1925 Law?? That's crazy! You should be able to do what you want on your own property....

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Many of the freedoms we enjoy here in the U.S. are quickly eroding as the nation transforms from the land of the free into the land of the enslaved, but what I’m about to share with you takes the assault on our freedoms to a whole new level. You may not be aware of this, but many Western states, including Utah, Washington and Colorado, have long outlawed individuals from collecting rainwater on their own properties because, according to officials, that rain belongs to someone else.

rainbarrel.jpg

More details: Collecting Rainwater Now Illegal in Many States (Video)

What a nightmare. Couldn't believe this. :passifier::st

This imho is just the latest in a long lines of laws & regulations designed to disempower people and create a dependence on governments or corporations.. They use health & safety or any other form of persuasion they can think of to take away peoples right or ability to fend for themselves.. It ensures slavery to state/corporations. It ensures that people will forever be dependant on them. It ensures that whatever medication or dosage of this or that can be force fed to the people under their control.

There is nothing as important as water... DONT take this idly..

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Okay, thanks for posting this!

Wow. A 1925 Law?? That's crazy! You should be able to do what you want on your own property....

We have a natural watershed on our property and we can't interfere with it in any way, because if we do it can flood our neighbors. In rural areas it comes down to whether your livestock have a steady supply of water that has been afforded to the property for like...forever, because of a creek or stream. It's like cutting off their lifeline.

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pssst ... hey buddy, wanna buy some water? SHHHHHHH!*!*!*!* not so LOUD!*

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Why am I paying £54.00 ($82.00) per month Water Rates.It comes down free and is captured by the Water Company,who make you pay for cleaning it.This last winter we've had rivers of water running down main streets, flooded fields,all causing massive damage to houses,cars crops,and then they put a hosepipe ban in force in a few weeks time.Its a crazy world.

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I can understand why people would have to pay for water coming through their taps, it has to be cleaned, filtered and whatever else they do and add to it, but illegal to collect rain water on your own property? Nah! not having that!

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It's one of those laws designed to prevent a problem from starting. Lets say the entire population of the U.S. got involved in a new trend to collect large amount of rainwater on every single piece of property(including farms, companies that wanted to sell bottled rainwater and other large pieces of land), that could have a very big impact on the environment if that much water never reached the ground.

Do any of these state laws have a limit on how much a private citizen can gather(per gallon), or are they complete bans?

But yet other parts of the country are taxing, fining, and probably imprisoning people for allowing rainwater runoff from their property.

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if it is about tax money,there has to be a way to get permit, it might cost you, but hey, that is how the world works, it ain't fare.

or just make sure no one knows you collect water, and have tanks hidden, and keep your mouth shut about it.

we can all protest,. complain, but good luck adjusting the world to your standarts, adjusting yourself to the present world, is a lot mot effective, and productive.

if you insist, become politician, and change laws, but i'm 200% sure, once you get into that "industry" you will be one of them doing the same thing you came to change in a first place.

Edited by aztek
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what dangers?? ppl have been doing it for thousands of years, we have not noticed any dangers.

The dangers are probably we would find out what sorts of chemicals and poisons they put in the atmosphere and contaminate the rain water. I would get the rainwater analyzed. Also if that rain water belongs to 'someone else' who exactly is that person and why is HIS/HER rainwater on YOUR property? And how would they control where rain falls etc. ? The politicians are idiots and should be made to sit in chains in the town square wearing dunce hats!!!!

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This is an older article but it explains WHY the law exists.

But according to the state of Colorado, the rain that falls on Holstrom's property is not hers to keep. It should be allowed to fall to the ground and flow unimpeded into surrounding creeks and streams, the law states, to become the property of farmers, ranchers, developers and water agencies that have bought the rights to those waterways.

What Holstrom does is called rainwater harvesting. It's a practice that dates back to the dawn of civilization, and is increasingly in vogue among environmentalists and others who pursue sustainable lifestyles. They collect varying amounts of water, depending on the rainfall and the vessels they collect it in. The only risk involved is losing it to evaporation. Or running afoul of Western states' water laws.

Those laws, some of them more than a century old, have governed the development of the region since pioneer days.

"If you try to collect rainwater, well, that water really belongs to someone else," said Doug Kemper, executive director of the Colorado Water Congress. "We get into a very detailed accounting on every little drop."

Frank Jaeger of the Parker Water and Sanitation District, on the arid foothills south of Denver, sees water harvesting as an insidious attempt to take water from entities that have paid dearly for the resource.

"Every drop of water that comes down keeps the ground wet and helps the flow of the river," Jaeger said. He scoffs at arguments that harvesters like Holstrom only take a few drops from rivers. "Everything always starts with one little bite at a time."

Increasingly, however, states are trying to make the practice more welcome. Bills in Colorado and Utah, two states that have limited harvesting over the years, would adjust their laws to allow it in certain scenarios, over the protest of people like Jaeger.

Organic farmers and urban dreamers aren't the only people pushing to legalize water harvesting. Developer Harold Smethills wants to build more than 10,000 homes southwest of Denver that would be supplied by giant cisterns that capture the rain that falls on the 3,200-acre subdivision. He supports the change in Colorado law.

"We believe there is something to rainwater harvesting," Smethills said. "We believe it makes economic sense."

Collected rainwater is generally considered "gray water," or water that is not reliably pure enough to drink but can be used to water yards, flush toilets and power heaters. In some states, developers try to include a network of cisterns and catchment pools in every subdivision, but in others, those who catch the rain tend to do so covertly.

Nibs

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The dangers are probably we would find out what sorts of chemicals and poisons they put in the atmosphere and contaminate the rain water. I would get the rainwater analyzed. Also if that rain water belongs to 'someone else' who exactly is that person and why is HIS/HER rainwater on YOUR property? And how would they control where rain falls etc. ? The politicians are idiots and should be made to sit in chains in the town square wearing dunce hats!!!!

i disagree about dangers, but the rest, i agree 100%.

if someone owns it, than he should be liable for any damage rainwater does.

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