Oregon man jailed for collecting rainwater

[cmore]

He had permits to build the ponds and then the state took them back. Unless there was fraud in the application ,why should he have to take finical the hit on building and then tearing the dams out? I guess we are not as free as we think. If a governmental body go after and individual, how many can afford to fight. The government has an unlimited amount of $ to fight u and that worries me.

 

[bcp]

Two of the rainwater ponds, from Google satellite view.

View attachment 277261

All three:

Google

Bruce

 

[dave1949]

Thanks, Bruce.

It doesn't look like dam failure is an issue, but I never worked for the NSA, so I could be wrong

I don't think people from the Great Lakes region and New England comprehend western water rights issues, I'm sure I don't at least. We are usually trying to get rid of excess water.

 

[forgeblast]

That puts them into perspective, thanks for the google pics.

 

[smstonypoint]

As discussed above, water rights have long been a matter of contention in the West. The conflicts result in full-employment for the lawyers, economists, and engineers who specialize in the matter.

There's an ongoing legal battle between Georgia, Florida, and Alabama concerning water rights in Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin: Ridenbaugh Press/Water Rights ｻ Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin. I expect that those of us in the East will be seeing more conflicts in the future.

Steve

 

[greasemonkeyok]

There is plenty of water in Eastern Oklahoma, but the State and the Tribes are battling over who owns the water in streams so the winner can sell it to Texas. Here is the state's side of the story:
http://www.owrb.ok.gov/util/pdf_util/lawsuitdocs/GeneralStreamAdjudication.pdf

The goal is full employment of the lawyers. :laughing:

 

[cqaigy2]

He had permits to build the ponds and then the state took them back. Unless there was fraud in the application ,why should he have to take finical the hit on building and then tearing the dams out? I guess we are not as free as we think. If a governmental body go after and individual, how many can afford to fight. The government has an unlimited amount of $ to fight u and that worries me.

But if additional information comes to light, for instance better science about earthquake dangers, where it's apparent that there is a greater risk, it would seem that we expect the government to step in before the risk is realized and lose of life or property damage occurs. A question that might be asked is who will pay.

 

[Raspy]

Many years ago my parents were involved in a similar situation.

They live on a small rural dirt road that has a creek running alongside it. Up the creek a mile or so from them lived "screwy Louie". He decided to build a dam across the canyon and back up the creek. This was done hurriedly and without permission. Everyone was up in arms at the though of a tremendous flood and the creek stopping until the lake was full. The small lake filled up, but the battle went on for years.

No disasters ever happened and finally the lake became a meadow with a stream crossing it and everything was pretty much back to normal.

Years later my Pop built a much smaller pond to use for fire protection. His was shallow, narrow and in a nearly level area, but it sparked some grumbling and the re-telling of Screwy Louie's dam. It is still there and a fun place to get your feet wet in the summer.

 

[turnkey4099]

There is more to it than what has been discussed. He was _diverting_ water from a stream to which he did not have water rights into his ponds. That was in the original article I saw a couple weeks ago. Was warned repeatedly.

Harry K

 

[Wnc3]

UFB...what next.