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[Kad5]

http://www.mnn.com/your-home/at-home/blogs/oregon-man-in-possession-of-13-million-gallons-of-illicit-rainwater-sentence

An Oregon resident with 3 massive man-made ponds on his property is sentenced to 30 days in jail after being found guilty (again) of collecting rainwater without a permit.

 

[-KRS-]

You need a permit to collect rainwater? There must be something missing in this story.

 

[vas_a_morir]

What's the reason for this law?

 

[dekline]

13 million gallons. That's a lot of water.

 

[Valnen]

That rain water belongs to the government!

 

[Game-Biz]

What's the reason for this law?

Well, what if everybody started collecting rainwater willy nilly? Think of the children.

 

[ajf009]

Yeah that sounds about right. Don't fuck with the ecosystem

 

[Tacitus_]

You need a license for that?

 

[The Dutch Slayer]

HOW THE FUCK can you be punished for collecting rain water??? like seriously.....

 

[Devolution]

What's the reason for this law?

citing a 1925 law that states the city of Medford holds all exclusive rights to "core sources of water" in the Big Butte Creek watershed and its tributaries.

Sounds like they think he's stealing run off.

 

[Particle Physicist]

You need a license for that?

To create 3 massive ponds that most likely affect the ecosystem in some way? Yeah, you probably need a permit for that.

 

[DoomGyver]

Or he could have just called them ponds, stocked them with fish. 30 days? really? Just a fine and draining the ponds is enough.

 

[Seguin]

You need a license for that?

To create your own ponds? Sure.

Sounds like they think he's stealing run off.

Big Butte Creek

 

[Jibbed]

That rain water belongs to the government!

I lol'd.

Seriously, what's wrong with collecting water? It's not like he was hoarding the shit with malicious intent.

 

[Snaku]

 

[Chili]

Makes sense. If he's collecting the water then he's stopping it from going into the nearby vegetation/other official reservoirs etc.

 

[ajf009]

Or he could have just called them ponds, stocked them with fish. 30 days? really? Just a fine and draining the ponds is enough.

I'm sure thats what they did the first time they caught him doing it

 

[Particle Physicist]

Or he could have just called them ponds, stocked them with fish. 30 days? really? Just a fine and draining the ponds is enough.

Even then, don't you need some sort of permit?

 

[Aylinato]

water belongs to the people of America, it's one of the founding principles we took from the Romans.



:edit: I find it hilarious that people think that it's fine that he takes millions of gallons of water to make his own ponds, forgetting that nature needs that water to keep the ecosystem flowing, per se, correctly.

 

[Kinyou]

His plan was to collect all the water in the world and then to sell it back to us.

Or he likes to take extensive showers.

 

[dskillzhtown]

What's the reason for this law?

If his collecting is having an effect on the local ecosystem, I can see why it is a concern.

 

[Wiseblade]

This is too obscure for words.

 

[Salvadora]

Obama's America?

 

[Kinyou]

Obama's America?

Obama caught the world's greatest water thief.

 

[squicken]

Maybe Eon can base the next Bond villain off this guy

 

[Tacitus_]

To create 3 massive ponds that most likely affect the ecosystem in some way? Yeah, you probably need a permit for that.

Oh he used the water to create massive ponds. Yeah, I can see that needing a permit of some sort. OP isn't exactly helpful.

 

[Triple U]

Uhh what??

 

[ReturnOfTheRAT]

Maybe Eon can base the next Bond villain off this guy

The villain in Quantum of Solace was trying to control water supplies, wasn't he?

 

[Devolution]

Uhh what??

Long story short they are sure he's diverting water that should be going to a watershed and tributaries. OP is written so you think the state is just being douchebags about rainwater.

 

[Messypandas]

Maybe Eon can base the next Bond villain off this guy

James Pond?

 

[Salvadora]

The villain in Quantum of Solace was trying to control water supplies, wasn't he?

Yeah in Bolivia.

 

[El Sloth]

I believe part of the reason for the permit is because of mosquitoes and all the fun stuff they bring along with them like West Nile. And this:

Long story short they are sure he's diverting water that should be going to a watershed and tributaries. OP is written so you think the state is just being douchebags about rainwater.

 

[ReturnOfTheRAT]

Yeah in Bolivia.

TY. I was unsure because I didn't remember a global plot.

 

[Piggus]

Makes sense that you should need a permit for collecting that much water, especially since there are so many forest fires this time of year. I live in the same county as where this took place and the whole Rogue Valley is covered in smoke right now.

 

[Bulbo Urethral Baggins]

Long story short they are sure he's diverting water that should be going to a watershed and tributaries. OP is written so you think the state is just being douchebags about rainwater.

Douchebags with rainwater?
Doesn't sound very hygienic.

 

[linkboy]

Oh he used the water to create massive ponds. Yeah, I can see that needing a permit of some sort. OP isn't exactly helpful.

He had a permit, the government changed their minds and voided said permits.

 

[dark_chris]

Wtf at the amount of water...

 

[Mammoth Jones]

Government should make sure he doesn't do anything dangerous with that rain water!

 

[Devolution]

Douchebags with rainwater?
Doesn't sound very hygienic.

That's what is really in bottled water. ;p

 

[Manos: The Hans of Fate]

Sounds like they think he's stealing run off.

Yep, water ownerships varies among the states between two different terms I cannot recall from law school.

 

[Piggus]

Government should make sure he doesn't do anything dangerous with that rain water!

He is. Just by diverting that much water away from watersheds and tributaries, etc he's creating a negative impact on the local ecosystem. This is also at a time when we need water to fight forest fires.

 

[Devolution]

He is. Just by diverting that much water away from watersheds and tributaries, etc he's creating a negative impact on the local ecosystem. This is also at a time when we need water to fight forest fires.

Also depending on the availability of water sources he might be making people pay more for their water if he's stealing some of the supply.

 

[pigeon]

What's the reason for this law?

According to the article, it's legal to collect rainwater, just not to build unpermitted reservoirs, because water is a public resource in Oregon and can't be privately owned. I'm not sure why, but Oregon.

He has also had these reservoirs for over a decade, apparently, and they already gave him probation last time on the condition that he would open them, which he didn't do, so I don't really think this sentence is all that unreasonable. Nobody can say he didn't get fair warning.

 

[speculawyer]

They'll put him in jail with that guy who rips the tags off mattresses.

 

[CriterionDog]

lol I live in Oregon you guise.

 

[The Faceless Master]

apparently, the problem is the water is actually runoff water that comes from higher up and passes thru his land and he's damming it up, stopping the flow of water.

so when he says it's just rainwater and snow, he's being facetious, since you can say that shit about any old stream.

 

[sk3]

This is stupid. I understand why these laws exist, but the dude is in bumblefuck, nowheresville and owns 170 acres. Nothing is going to be affected by what he does. And there is a gigantic reservoir a mile from his property anyway.

Just search for Eagle Point, OR and look northeast of the city. On this image, I believe his land is the little ponds in the lower right.

 

[MuggerMD]

It belongs in a museum!!!

 

[pigeon]

It belongs in a museum!!!

 

[ClassyPenguin]

kad5 thread is the new kosmos thread.