It Begins… US Citizen Goes to Jail for Collecting Rain Water

Gateway ^ | July 9, 2014 | Jim Hoft

[MaxMax]

I'm also defending the land owner for challenging the Gov since they gave
him the proper permits for the ponds in the first place. They changed the
rules in the middle of the game and made him a criminal in the process. That isn't right
and no Gov should have the authority to create criminals on a whim or by decree.

I'm sure there are reasonable examples where the Gov authority may demand
this course of action to protect people but in this case it's just plain bullying
and nobody was being harmed.

[MaxMax]

There are no free and natural flows of water on his property. No natural creeks or rivers.
The land is dry and desolate and I know it well since I spend a considerable
amount of time prospecting in northern CA. His property also reminds me of Donner pass.

If he were restricting water flow to cattle or farmers then that would be a civil issue.
This isn't even a Government issue and they have no grounds to bother him that I've read about
accept they pulled his permit to give themselves a reason to bother him.

So far his purpose was to have fire reservoirs to protect his property and home.
I see no illegality in that. I hope he continues to challenge them all.

Oregon law dictates that water is a publicly owned resource
And here is how they create criminals and regulate private land.
Nanny state and Agenda21.

[Uncle Chip]

He sold the property over a year ago so it’s a moot point.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/16/gary-harrington-oregon-water-rainwater_n_1784378.html

According to this, those reservoirs were not holes in the ground that he dug. They were free-flowing creeks until he decided to dam them up.

[tanknetter]

It sounds to me that his property was watershed for the Mooshelle Obama, er, Big Butte River, no?

If not, how could he accumulate 13 million gallons of water? Where would it go if he wasn’t collecting it? That seems like more than could be expected to just evaporate?

[MaxMax]

It does not say he blocked or dammed a creek. That's just the States accusation and
they can't prove it.

the Oregon man convicted of collecting rainwater and snow runoff

The Oregon Water Resources Department, claims that Harrington has been
violating the state’s water use law by diverting water from streams running into
the Big Butte River. But Harrington says he is not diverting the state’s water
merely collecting rainwater and snow melt that falls or flows on his own property.

So, do you still take the states side and call him a thief?
Or would you call the State accusations, lies?

[MaxMax]

This is like Obama saying “You didn’t Build that”. Well, the Gov didn’t make it rain.

[MaxMax]

I like how the state accused him of Diverting then expected him to prove he didn't.
I have no idea how he built those ponds, maybe a lining under? Most cattle ponds here in
Texas are done that way to prevent water loss from leakage. Not an expensive way to make a pond.

[Uncle Chip]

They say here that he built two 10 foot high dams and one 20 foot high dam:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fo43gQr2Ww#t=70

If they are dams — and dams are pretty tough to miss — then you would have to agree that those were creeks before he altered them, right.

[MaxMax]

I read he built the dams to catch the runoff from the main pond, to create another pond.
Two dams, three ponds.

[Uncle Chip]

Well the ponds were ordered drained by the court.

So if they were holes in the ground then to drain them he would have had to pump the water out. Is that how they were drained — by pumping or siphoning???

And then of course water would reaccumulate and he would have to pump again.

However if they were dammed up creeks then blowing up or breaching the dam would empty the reservoirs once and for all.

So how did he empty them??? That should tell you if he had dams or not.

[CodeToad]

“Water rights and the laws involving them are complex, but they have existed for centuries for a reason.”

Lawyers and salesmen. What else ya got?

[HiTech RedNeck]

What did he do with the “stolen water.” 13 million gallons would fill quite a few pools.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Damned for dams. What a rotten fate.

[Uncle Chip]

I think he was building a resort — he stocked his reservoir with fish and was building docks for boats.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Sure sounds like fodder for a lawsuit by any harmed neighbors. But did that ever happen?

If water is dammed and nobody misses it, how does that become a crime?

[Uncle Chip]

Apparently by a 1925 law the rain and snow that falls on the ground in that area belongs to the city of Medford and it can’t be corralled.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Well ok, busted. He ought to have checked before going to the trouble. If Medford did not need it now they could have modified the law, especially since this new facility would be bringing in guests from all around. But it should have been done the kosher way.

[MaxMax]

Doesn't say. Just that he drained them then let them fill up again just after his
first probation.