stupid government at work. as usual. it cannot get any more corrupt. sooner or later, the BS laws will wake the people up. if i cannot collect rain water, they better make it stop raining on my land.
In Colorado, Rain Barrels Are Illegal......What????
- Thread starter pdsavage
- Start date
In OR water is always an issue. The small town that my parents live in cannot build any new homes because they do not have the water to sustain it. The larger cities (and corporate interests, developers) don't have to follow this rule, they have access to other sources and can swing their weight around. The Colorado River is a point of contention throughout the west, that is probably what the rainwater collection issue is really about. That river feeds many large, growing cities in the SW, golf courses and all. We are talking Las Vegas and Los Angeles among them. That is who owns those water rights, not the feds. Some of those contracts date back to the 1930's, when the population looked very different throughout the west and water was not understood to be as finite as it is now. There just weren't the residential and agricultural demands on it as there are now.
I lived in the Central Valley in CA before moving to OR. It's an incredibly dry area, yet, in Modesto there was (and probably still is) a city ordinance that you MUST keep your lawn green. In a place that is regularly 100 degrees, that means that you have to water every single day. They didn't meter at all. People washed their cars every week, the schools and orchards flood irrigated. Dairy is one of the biggest agricultural sources, all that water for milk producing cows comes from somewhere. There was rice growing in the valley. Rice, in what is basically a desert. How is that responsible? The water in Modesto comes from the Delta, which is also a source in trouble. In the case of the big farms and residential areas in Phoenix, LA and Las Vegas, it's the Colorado River (feeding into their resevoirs), which is fed by groundwater fed by rainwater all up along the west. It's all interconnected. And, it all feeds much of the arid west. That's why they are being all fussy about the rainwater, it dates back 80 years.
This is a very complicated issue, and it's going to get more contentious as those dry areas continue to grow. In this nation, we are going to have to have some serious conversations about what should be grown where, and water will have to be at the forefront of that discussion. Regional growth will have to be regulated for the same reasons. It's going to be an interesting conversation.
I lived in the Central Valley in CA before moving to OR. It's an incredibly dry area, yet, in Modesto there was (and probably still is) a city ordinance that you MUST keep your lawn green. In a place that is regularly 100 degrees, that means that you have to water every single day. They didn't meter at all. People washed their cars every week, the schools and orchards flood irrigated. Dairy is one of the biggest agricultural sources, all that water for milk producing cows comes from somewhere. There was rice growing in the valley. Rice, in what is basically a desert. How is that responsible? The water in Modesto comes from the Delta, which is also a source in trouble. In the case of the big farms and residential areas in Phoenix, LA and Las Vegas, it's the Colorado River (feeding into their resevoirs), which is fed by groundwater fed by rainwater all up along the west. It's all interconnected. And, it all feeds much of the arid west. That's why they are being all fussy about the rainwater, it dates back 80 years.
This is a very complicated issue, and it's going to get more contentious as those dry areas continue to grow. In this nation, we are going to have to have some serious conversations about what should be grown where, and water will have to be at the forefront of that discussion. Regional growth will have to be regulated for the same reasons. It's going to be an interesting conversation.
I live in Georgia. We have wanted to create a lake to help maintain a supply of water for the West Georgia area. Georgia has been sued by Alabama and Florida in Federal court. So I know about water issues. Last year Georgia was in a bad drought. We couldn't water anything. It got so bad that eating places wouldn't refill your water glass untill you asked them too. I was talking to a guy I work with who lives downstream from georgia about not being able to was my truck because of all the restrictions. "I was mine every three days" he said. When yall cut back on your usage, it leaves more for us in alabama. That made me so mad!! We were high and dry and they were watering pavement!
Quote:
THAT is hilarious!! Darn straight I would file a suit if land I owned got flooded with THEIR water. This is all BS....... Dont know if NE has such laws, but throw my Stealth Chicken Lovin' rear in jail now because I will NEVER abide by such BS.....No one owns the wind, rain or air!!!!!
DUMB
THAT is hilarious!! Darn straight I would file a suit if land I owned got flooded with THEIR water. This is all BS....... Dont know if NE has such laws, but throw my Stealth Chicken Lovin' rear in jail now because I will NEVER abide by such BS.....No one owns the wind, rain or air!!!!!
DUMB
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Quote:
THAT is hilarious!! Darn straight I would file a suit if land I owned got flooded with THEIR water. This is all BS....... Dont know if NE has such laws, but throw my Stealth Chicken Lovin' rear in jail now because I will NEVER abide by such BS.....No one owns the wind, rain or air!!!!!
DUMB
The govt thinks it owns everything!
THAT is hilarious!! Darn straight I would file a suit if land I owned got flooded with THEIR water. This is all BS....... Dont know if NE has such laws, but throw my Stealth Chicken Lovin' rear in jail now because I will NEVER abide by such BS.....No one owns the wind, rain or air!!!!!
DUMB
The govt thinks it owns everything!
god didnt make it rain for the government to call claims on it
Makes me glad I live in the Uk, where we are actively encouraged to recycle water, collect rainwater and do as much as we can for ourselves, your water boards over there talk a load of piffle and poppycock......nobody owns rain, wind, sunshine other than the Creator.
Had better get off my soapbox as I could really rant at this juncture.....
Had better get off my soapbox as I could really rant at this juncture.....
English Chick, laws in states with high rainfall are much like the UK. It's when you get out west that things get interesting. There are plenty of "ponds" and "streams" that are bone dry for 6 months out of the year.
""If you try to collect rainwater, well, that water really belongs to someone else," said Doug Kemper, executive director of the Colorado Water Congress. "We get into a very detailed accounting on every little drop."
Frank Jaeger of the Parker Water and Sanitation District, on the arid foothills south of Denver, sees water harvesting as an insidious attempt to take water from entities that have paid dearly for the resource.
"Every drop of water that comes down keeps the ground wet and helps the flow of the river," Jaeger said. He scoffs at arguments that harvesters like Holstrom only take a few drops from rivers. "Everything always starts with one little bite at a time."
Increasingly, however, states are trying to make the practice more welcome. Bills in Colorado and Utah, two states that have limited harvesting over the years, would adjust their laws to allow it in certain scenarios, over the protest of people like Jaeger.
Organic farmers and urban dreamers aren't the only people pushing to legalize water harvesting. Developer Harold Smethills wants to build more than 10,000 homes southwest of Denver that would be supplied by giant cisterns that capture the rain that falls on the 3,200-acre subdivision. He supports the change in Colorado law."
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/mar/18/nation/na-contested-rainwater18
""If you try to collect rainwater, well, that water really belongs to someone else," said Doug Kemper, executive director of the Colorado Water Congress. "We get into a very detailed accounting on every little drop."
Frank Jaeger of the Parker Water and Sanitation District, on the arid foothills south of Denver, sees water harvesting as an insidious attempt to take water from entities that have paid dearly for the resource.
"Every drop of water that comes down keeps the ground wet and helps the flow of the river," Jaeger said. He scoffs at arguments that harvesters like Holstrom only take a few drops from rivers. "Everything always starts with one little bite at a time."
Increasingly, however, states are trying to make the practice more welcome. Bills in Colorado and Utah, two states that have limited harvesting over the years, would adjust their laws to allow it in certain scenarios, over the protest of people like Jaeger.
Organic farmers and urban dreamers aren't the only people pushing to legalize water harvesting. Developer Harold Smethills wants to build more than 10,000 homes southwest of Denver that would be supplied by giant cisterns that capture the rain that falls on the 3,200-acre subdivision. He supports the change in Colorado law."
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/mar/18/nation/na-contested-rainwater18
I am so glad that I live in Mass. the rain and snow might drive us crazy sometimes, but at least we don't have to worry about the use of it. There are no laws that I know of about collecting rainwater.
If there's not enough water for everyone in Denver to drink, they should leave!
If we use that criteria, Las Vegas should not exist AT ALL. Yet, it grows bigger and more elaborate by the day. All for the sake of 'vacationing.'
If we use that criteria, Las Vegas should not exist AT ALL. Yet, it grows bigger and more elaborate by the day. All for the sake of 'vacationing.'
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