Colorado River: Heh heh heh, absolutely. I meant that comment to cover everything from small streams to larger rivers.
The rest of your comments address something along the lines of what I stated in one of my posts. I fully agree with your take on this.
Perhaps this guy should start billing the city every time rain falls on his property. Charge them at the same rate they bill him. If they claim all the water, then they should have to pay him the going rate for every cubic foot of it.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2911470/posts?page=13#13
According to the thesis in Natural Process, he should charge not for the water but for the collection and delivery services.