Regulating Water

The American Conservative Union ^ | January 26, 2011 | Jeffrey Folks

[Baynative]

Commissioners, environmental do-gooders and building officials in Western Washington have urged "good citizens" to keep an eye on their neighbors and report concerning activity.

The insanity of it all is that they say rain water has to go into the ground to recharge the aquifer and capturing it is illegal. But, if someone collects rain water and uses it on their garden or lawn it is going back into the same ground.

[thirst4truth]

In Oregon they call themselves, the Watermaster. Seriously all surface water, ponds, rivers, creeks and runoff from rain even springs if uncaught in a holding tank become the property of the Watermaster.

I like to ask them the question, "When God gives us the rain from the clouds where exactly do you take posession of it?"

We are supposed to register and then ask permission if we want to use the water in our ponds and creek. We are also supposed to have a permit for use of our springs. The only water left that they do not totally control is the wells. But you must have a permit to drill it and file it with the county.

The Oregon legislature brings up a bill every session to put meters on our wells, for now it has been shot down.

[Baynative]

I am waiting for the day that a storm and ensuing flood causes significant damage and people get together and sue the state because their water caused them a loss.

Little by little someone has to start putting a halt to this environmental nonsense.

Something else more people should be aware of is explained HERE.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

They probably want all of your rainwater to run into the Columbia and Colorado Rivers to quench the thirsts of the libs in the big cities.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

I thought that under the legal “realty of property” razzle-dazzle, the water that fell onto your property was yours. You get first crack. If it runs off your property, you’re out of luck.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Unfortunately, water is a critical issue, especially in the west where farmers and communities and environmentalists are all fighting over it. In other countries it is much worse and will probably result in vicious wars in the next decades.

Maybe they should just put the water on the free market. Whoever is the highest bidder gets the water. If that happens to be environMENTALists, so be it.

[gleeaikin]

The populations in desert northern Africa are going to have a hard time bidding on water from the Amazon. On the other hand there is already a lot of power water politics happening in our own southwest.

[jiggyboy]

It is (was?) different in Colorado, Kansas, I forget where else. It goes back to legal issues for that area going back to the 1800’s.

But recent reliable science proves that the water falling on your ground hundreds or even tens of miles away from the Colorado River, for example, never has a chance to make it there, which is used in support of the change to the law.

[JD_UTDallas]

"The insanity of it all is that they say rain water has to go into the ground to recharge the aquifer and capturing it is illegal. But, if someone collects rain water and uses it on their garden or lawn it is going back into the same ground."

This is not accurate, Hortonian overland flow from storm run off directly to the riparian environment where infiltration and recharge can happen is a lot different than capture and use by a residence.

Especially if the residence uses the water to irrigate plants/lawns which will though evapo-transpiration lose up to 80% of it to the atmosphere. As such the majority of this water will not enter the capillary zone let alone recharge the subsurface water table. Yes for those curious as a mater of fact I am a Geoscientist where applied hydrology is a required field of study at the graduate level as is fluvial geomorphology. The western states are entirely right to limit rain capture as this directly affects not only subsurface water levels it also affects the limnology of the whole watershed.

Residential capture is almost always consumptive use with the water lost to ET via plants, and evaporation from pools and water features little enters the recharge zone let alone the riparian environment it would have normally run off too.

[Baynative]

I've never heard such a clear analysis. Thanks for that.

It troubles me to think the wackos who are taking control of our lives might be right on this one. I wonder how much damage the people collecting water up her in the fairly rainy Pacific North West are doing.