Thoughts to what should be legal

[BirdHead]

I think several things should be legal, especially bans on what is wrong doing with livestock and collecting rain water and so forth

 

[Rod-T]

It's illegal to collect rain water?

 

[Michael OShay]

It's illegal to collect rain water?

X2 on the above. I've never heard anything anywhere about it being illegal to collect rain water.

 

[sourland]

?

 

[appps]

From the true or fiction website


Collecting Rainwater is Illegal in Some States-Truth! & Fiction!

Summary of eRumor:

Viral reports that an Oregon man was jailed for collecting rainwater on his rural property have sparked questions about whether it’s illegal to collect rainwater in some states.



The Truth:

Claims that it’s illegal to collect rainwater in some states are both true and false.

Eleven states have passed laws about the collection of rainwater, but that doesn’t necessarily make it illegal in those states. Some states actually offer tax incentives to encourage people to setup their own rainwater collection systems.

The topic of illegal rainwater collection first went viral back in 2012 when a man from rural Oregon was sentenced to 30 days in jail for illegally collecting rainwater on this property. The (true) story of 64-year-old Gary Harrington’s jail sentence sparked a lot of questions about rainwater harvesting.

Gary Harrington was sentenced to 30 days in jail on nine counts related to the unauthorized use of water, according to an Oregon Water Resources Department statement:

“Harrington stored and used water illegally by placing dams across channels on his property and preventing the flow of water out of these artificial reservoirs without obtaining a water right permit. The height of each dam varies; two dams stand about ten feet tall and the third stands about 20 feet tall. The total amount of water collected behind these dams totals about 40 acre feet; enough to fill almost 20 Olympic‐sized swimming pools. These man‐made reservoirs feature boat docks, boats, and were stocked by Harrington with trout and Bluegill for recreational fishing.”

The story led many to believe that all rainwater collection in Oregon was illegal, but that’s not the case. The state requires a water rights permit to use public water (including rainfall), but there are exceptions for “collecting precipitation water that gathers on an artificial impervious surface, such as a rooftop or parking lot; in rain barrels.” So, for most people in Oregon, it’s legal to collect and use rainwater.

There has been similar misunderstanding about rainwater collection laws in Colorado. Before 2009, Colorado had strict laws that basically made collecting rainwater illegal. But the state later introduced laws that made it legal to use some rooftop rainwater collection systems and to set up rainwater retention basins at new development sites.

Other states that have rainwater collection laws on the books include Arizona, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington.

But these laws don’t make it illegal to collect rainwater; they outline allowable uses for rainwater and establish tax credits for people who invest in rainwater collection systems.

A copy of the email submitted to Truthorfiction.com:

 

[BBQJOE]

I think Utah has some laws about it, and you may need a permit.

 

[Rod-T]

I think some states are just permit happy..
They guy that got jailed. Sounds like he was catching alot more water that landing on his rooftops. Sounds like he was damming drainage creeks that run thru his property.
Building ponds and so forth

 

[MeepBeep]

Here is a list of many states laws in regards to rain water collection...

http://www.arcsa.org/?page=273

Worth noting is that just because the law might be rarely enforced does not equate to violating the law being legal...

I find many laws on landscaping and gardening to be silly, for example laws that prohibit gardening in the 'front yard' or gardening altogether in some areas... I also find laws that mandate a 'lawn grass' height or forbid certain types of landscape to be disturbing, or worse home owners associations that mandate you not only maintain the height of your grass but that you also water your lawn and treat it with herbicides to kill the 'undesirable' greens in your lawn...

And I have been a victim of this, I had a neighbor that was beyond a busy body when I lived in a neighborhood, she would call the cops on me any chance she could... And although this may sound far fetched, or even mind boggling, I found out from another neighbor (stay at home) that he literally saw the cops out several times each month with a ruler measuring the height of my lawn my stay at home neighbor wanted to know what was up with that... After I explained about the busy body, said neighbor would start up their lawn mower and start mowing my lawn every time the cop showed up after that. much to his annoyance Never got a ticket for that, but the idea that the police department was actually wasting time measuring the height of grass with a ruler suggesting that it's not in clear violation of the height law is disturbing to me... She also filed a report that my 'bushes' were too tall in my yard, and I actually got a frivolous ticket for that one... Let me say the conversation I had with the chief of police over his officer issuing said ticket wasn't friendly... I kept asking the chief of police to show me the law defining the maximum height of bushes and asked him if their was a maximum tree height as well, lets just say he got real flush in the face real quick and babbled a lot... He called back later day stating I was violating a law in regards to bushes/trees obstructing the view of an intersection or sidewalk, when I explained I didn't live at an intersection, there is no sidewalk in from of my house and that none of my bushes were even close to the road, the closest being about 30 feet into my yard, he said he would look into it further and get back to me again, I never heard back and never paid the ticket either... I also got a ticket for 'noxious weeds' in my yard once, as defined by my local ordinance they use a list of weeds defined by the state and that list only contains 9 plants, I had none of those defined weeds in my yard, so again an argument with the chief ensued over the ticket before he dismissed it...

 

[Rod-T]

Cops that measure grass.. the next reality show.

 

[BirdHead]

Cops that measure grass.. the next reality show.

That's funny lol.