Who owns the Rain?

[Sassy]

Check this 2 min video out...  you may be breaking the law if you collect rain water in a barrel or cistern or even dig a pond on your property 

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/1039.html

[Shawn B]

Just more ridiculous gov't control on our personal lives.

[MountainDon]

Nothing new there. Water has always been just about as valuable as gold in the west, maybe more so.

Interesting article.... 
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/water/4314447

If we reflect on the fact that the Colorado River does not make it through to its traditional outlet in the Gulf of California anymore because of water use and diversion it helps to understand the issues. Note in that article that many places are making adjustments on the old restrictions on home owner use.

[rick91351]

Just more ridiculous gov't control on our personal lives.

Shawn I agree some what.  Yet here in Idaho when Idaho Power during the drought years decided that they owned the water rights.  We had to prove our rights and had to refile on springs, creeks and ponds.  We as water users had used some rights established since the mid to late 1800's.  Our state government stepped in and in-effect did help us out a lot.  We saved most of our rights!  Some were just never proved up on properly, thus no proof of right or ownership.  Had the Feds gotten involved more who knows what would have happened.  I am in this case more concerned over business or special interest groups siphoning our rights away than the government.     

[Pox Eclipse]

Nothing new there. Water has always been just about as valuable as gold in the west, maybe more so.

Interesting article.... 
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/water/4314447

If we reflect on the fact that the Colorado River does not make it through to its traditional outlet in the Gulf of California anymore because of water use and diversion it helps to understand the issues. Note in that article that many places are making adjustments on the old restrictions on home owner use.

Like the old saw says, it's all about location, location, location.  In the northeast, local governments have a problem managing storm water runoff after heavy rains, so they assess taxes based the square footage of impermiable surface on your property, like roofs and parking lots.

http://nhregister.com/articles/2010/12/29/news/new_haven/doc4d1ac1d429ef9549576271.txt

Damned if you do, and damned if you don't!

[Squirl]

A lot of these legal concoctions of water rights and rain water collection were devised when these areas were still territories before they were ever part of the United States.

[dug]

That's pretty good. Don't collect the rain but rather use power and pump the aquifer! 

Around here the mayordomo (water master) has more pull than the sheriff, a tradition dating to pre US occupation. Mess with someone's ditch and you may risk serious physical harm.

For an in depth look into the battles for water in the American West I highly recommend "Cadillac Desert", fascinating and frightening!

[h0rizon]

Hmmmm.  Well, our bodies are over 70% water.  So one could argue that if you collect water that someone else technically has rights over, and drink said water, that owner would have controlling share over you 

Water rights do pull a lot of weight.  My parents had a spring that ran near-surface to the road, used as the farm's only water source.  As a result, they threw a fit when DOT tried to repave the road and filed a complaint.  Doing so would have likely destroyed the spring.  So despite the road deteriorating over the past 20 years and neighbors constantly complaining about the awful state it is in, the DOT still refuses to pave any part of the road after that complaint was filed.

[peternap]

The Government don't own no steenkin rain...I do!

[Sassy]