For Our Next Trick....... Expect "Collecting Rainwater" permits !
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deserteagle71
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This is what happens when you have clueless idiots, who have no idea of where their food comes from, running your government. "Educated Idiots"
IF it was only Incompetence, that would be bad enough....
I (and many people) like to pick on the left-coast (mine, and yours), but reality today - this is a global problem. At least, in "advanced" nations.
Rgds, D.
sd455dan
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Wow little guys can't even have horses or a few chickens but Companies like Nestle can pump 200-400 gallons a minute 24/7 for decade(s) out of an aquifer for nothing... and then get a several million dollar tax break in addition.
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ericm979
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I didn't look at the video but I bet its that one woman in Salem. Oregon law says that you can't pump water from a well for a commercial garden over 1/2 acre. A lot of the farm parts of western Oregon has irrigation, including most of the Willamette valley where Salem is. Irrigation rights are specifically for commercial farming and are often quite generous. There's not been a change in Oregon's laws. They're not "shutting down" small farms. This was one person who didn't bother to find out the rules and is now complaining about it. She should have gotten land with irrigation rights, or applied for them for her land.
While they're not perfect I think Oregon's water laws are a lot more sensible than California's. Until recently in California, you could do whatever you want with your ground water. Sounds great right? No government interference! But what's happened is that big commercial outfits put in huge deep wells with giant pumps and suck the aquifer dry. The ground's subsided 20 feet or more in a lot of the central valley as the water table falls. Lots of small people's wells have run dry and they have to pay for a deeper one. Basically this only works for the rich and big corporations.
In both Oregon and California you can collect all the rain water you want without a permit. It's Colorado where that's illegal. That's because of the Colorado river agreement with the other states on the river, not because Colorado hates farmers. The water that falls on the (western part) of the state ends up in the river.
While they're not perfect I think Oregon's water laws are a lot more sensible than California's. Until recently in California, you could do whatever you want with your ground water. Sounds great right? No government interference! But what's happened is that big commercial outfits put in huge deep wells with giant pumps and suck the aquifer dry. The ground's subsided 20 feet or more in a lot of the central valley as the water table falls. Lots of small people's wells have run dry and they have to pay for a deeper one. Basically this only works for the rich and big corporations.
In both Oregon and California you can collect all the rain water you want without a permit. It's Colorado where that's illegal. That's because of the Colorado river agreement with the other states on the river, not because Colorado hates farmers. The water that falls on the (western part) of the state ends up in the river.
Jrasband
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Glad I don't live there!
stuckmotor
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Forty or fifty years ago Oregon's governor requested that people quit moving there.
Thanks for the local 411 Eric. Not really new... many battles (not just in court) have been fought throughout History, just over water.
I can't confirm or deny if it's the same woman... but I do recommend that you watch the video, as it's about a lot more than just access to water.
Long enough ago that our national broadcaster here actually still reported these things, I saw similar occurrences with lumber mills. Small mills got shut down for "enviro regs" - which was often nothing more than piling sawdust in or near a forest. "Concentrations that don't occur naturally", was the excuse.
Rgds, D.
(P.S. - I had forgotten.... about the Colorado situation.... I come from a line of "outlaws".... the pre-confederation farmhouse my Dad was raised in, had a cistern !
).
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Regulatory Capture being what it is..... ^ all too common a situation.
Broad/vague laws, by nature subject to interpretation, seem ripe for abuse..... I'm thinking of an important Canadian case still before the courts as I type.... non-Ag related, so won't post further, except to say Canadian Mischief Trial should get you there.
Practically speaking, I fail to see how even hundreds of "farmers" irrigating an acre or 3 of land for crops will put much of a dent in non-desert aquifers. With food costs skyrocketing (no accident, and we are nowhere near done with that curve), I find the idea of having to jump through regulatory hoops AND pay more taxes (call it what it is) on land that you already pay taxes on disgusting.
IF there is an actual water shortage get the Big Consumers to cut back first, before beating on the peasants.
Rgds, D.