California Targets Private Property With Latest Water Well Fees, Charges: Report

   / California Targets Private Property With Latest Water Well Fees, Charges: Report #51  
Water comes up and used for shower, washer, dishes, toilet, etc, then goes back in the ground via septic system. I'm putting it back after use.
That water most likely evaporates as almost all water we use does. Very little of it goes back to usable source like waterways or aquifers. Somebody upthread mentioned a term in thousands of years for aquifers to replenish.
 
   / California Targets Private Property With Latest Water Well Fees, Charges: Report #52  
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I also remember watching a program on PBS about the bristlecone pine trees which live in the sierra mountains at higher elevations. They are some of the oldest tress in the world and if I'm remembering correctly they were able to overlap the tree rings from currently living tress with ones that were dead to go back in time 8,000 years. In doing so they noted that the last 200 years were some of the wettest years that the tress had ever experienced! My first thought was wow, so if you think its dry in California now, just imagen how dry it was before everyone moved there in the last 200 years!
...
I remember reading years ago that the South West was in a climatic wet period that is not normal. Figured it is going to h...ll to pay when the normal dry period returns. Is the current dry spell just a short term issue or is it the start the return of the normal drier climate?

Later,
Dan
 
   / California Targets Private Property With Latest Water Well Fees, Charges: Report #53  
Hey, if you have land, and water is under that land, it is your water. I wonder how your argument would be if they found oil on your land. Maybe even a vein of mineral? It'd probably be a little bit different I imagine.
Sorry, the rights to the water Under your land will belong to others.
 
   / California Targets Private Property With Latest Water Well Fees, Charges: Report #54  
Sorry, the rights to the water Under your land will belong to others.
I'd be heading to the Supreme Court of the land with that one. But I've only been to California one time. Helped someone move to Riverside. I stayed at the house and waited to leave. Left and never went back. Too foreign to me.
 
   / California Targets Private Property With Latest Water Well Fees, Charges: Report #55  
I'd be heading to the Supreme Court of the land with that one. But I've only been to California one time. Helped someone move to Riverside. I stayed at the house and waited to leave. Left and never went back. Too foreign to me.
Don’t think you’d even get close. No one owns the water under their land Or that falls on their land.
 
   / California Targets Private Property With Latest Water Well Fees, Charges: Report #57  
Here in Washington water rights have become a major issue. Towns and cities have to have adequate water rights before additional development is allowed. Getting them by eminent domain has become pretty much impossible recently and they have to purchase them from someone or something that already owns them. There are quite a few large farms that had substantial water rights that have sold them for a lot of money. Nearby towns that do not have or their current water rights are nearing capacity require developers to purchase water rights for the city before development can proceed.
So far this has not affected rural landowners with wells for domestic use.
Much of this is in response to lawsuits won by the tribal nations for protection of river flows and fishing rights.
 
   / California Targets Private Property With Latest Water Well Fees, Charges: Report #58  

Doctrine of Reasonable Use​

The Reasonable Use doctrine, also known as the "American Rule," is a variation of the Absolute Dominion doctrine. A property owner may have access to all the groundwater underneath his/her property as long as it is used "reasonably" and doesn't greatly affect the rights of those who may share the same aquifer.

The word "reasonable" can be interpreted differently between states but the underlying principle is that neighbors who share the same groundwater source should be able to enjoy it responsibly and without excessive wasting. This generally covers most household uses such as gardening, livestock use, and indoor use.

With groundwater levels becoming increasingly precarious and with population increasing across the country, many states have adopted the Reasonable Use doctrine as a way of balancing water rights and water availability.

States that follow the Reasonable Use doctrine are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.


 
   / California Targets Private Property With Latest Water Well Fees, Charges: Report #59  
Sorry, the rights to the water Under your land will belong to others.
Well, it depends on the location. :ROFLMAO:

I was trying to find information on a county in NC regarding ground water ownership by a private company. Can't find the information though but I ran across some other interesting water law/rights. In Texas, the water is owned by the landowner, which was a decision in the Texas Supreme court a decade or so back.

Any who, found this document has information on some US states water rights, laws, etc.

Whose Water Is It Anyway? Comparing the Water Rights Frameworks of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida - Oklahoma State University
Arkansas landowners have a right to withdraw ground water from underlying aquifers without limit as long as the water is put to beneficial use. This right cannot be sold separately from the land. Registration is required for wells with a maximum flow rate greater than 50,000 gallons per day.

In NC, this document was interesting, Who Owns the Water? Part 1 - Groundwater.
And so the simple starting point for discussion of groundwater ownership in NC is that owners of land have the right to make “reasonable use” of the groundwater beneath their property. In other words, like the riparian rights that come with ownership of land alongside surface water, the right to extract and use groundwater is one of the bundle of rights that come with real estate ownership. (The text in bold was in the linked document)

Wish I could find what I was looking for though.... <sigh>

Later,
Dan
 
   / California Targets Private Property With Latest Water Well Fees, Charges: Report #60  
Hey, if you have land, and water is under that land, it is your water. I wonder how your argument would be if they found oil on your land. Maybe even a vein of mineral? It'd probably be a little bit different I imagine.
And your neighbor sucks out a few million gallons, your well goes dry, but it’s not you neighbor’s fault, right?
 
 
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