I only see it as another encroachment on private land ownership.
Except that these water rights laws have existed basically since “civilization” arrived in the West. This is not a new thing.
I think that the people who own the water rights would agree with you if you replace “land” above with “property.” These people own the water rights and feel that people who set up cisterns are robbing them of their rightful property.
I personally think that the water rights should start once you get to a piece of water big enough to worry about. Things like rain should not be part of the equation until it has pooled together to form a stream or something and that people ought to be able to gather rain water on their own property.
I may have been born in Arizona and live in Utah now, but I grew up from the time I was 10 in Massachusetts and lived there (with a few absences) until my later 20s, and then again in New Hampshire for almost 5 years in my 30s. So I personally agree with the Eastern way of looking at this, which is that the land owner has the rights to the water on his property. But here in the West they have long established rules that say otherwise. The goal should be to make sure that those rights do not trample common sense use.
Well I agree with public waterways (lakes, rivers, large streams, etc) but rain water?
Just because its an old law doesn’t mean its not an encroachment on people’s land rights. I want to see these statues sued multiple times over for damage done by “their” rain water. I bet those laws get changed real quick…or the state will just create some absurd law where they are not liable for “their” property damage.
You know what would keep Denver from having a drought every single summer? Stop sending half our water to AZ…
People in the middle of the freaking desert can water their lawns whenever the hell they want. People in Denver can only water every 3rd day, and only at dawn or dusk.
He have a similar issue here with our resovoir. The city wants the river flowing year round to capacity but if we get a little bit of a dry year we are suddenly on water restrictions but their scenic river keeps on a’flown. I’ve lived in areas that get less than a third as much rain, and don’t ever recall water restrictions…:rolleyes:
Isn’t she actually letting the water run into the ground via her garden at a later date? She is not actually keeping it.
I dont know what yards they are talking about but I have never seen a yard where the rain water runs off into a river unless it has a river running through it. This is the most insane thing I have ever heard of. I can understand not being able to divert waterways away from others, which I believe was the intent of the law, but this is stupid. The guy that says they account for every drop? Do they account for all the water that ends up causing floods and the damage they cause? If they are going to account for every drop and want to be paid for it they are responsible for the damage it causes.
I happen to agree with you.
But some water soaks down into the aquifer which is what they are worried about I think since I cannot just drill a well in states that have these water rights laws.
So, what happens if they just start urinating on their property for the rest of their lives?
Is that someone else’s property? Can they be tried for vandalism for ruining the fresh rain water by mixing it with urine?
I live in the city limits and can not drill a well, but trapping rain water is actually acceptable here for watering lawns/gardens. If it was not permitted because they were concerned about rainwater reaching the aquifer, I would send them a bill anytime I watered my lawn since it is filling their aquifer.
Having recently bought land in CO, my wife and I were pretty dumbfounded about this. However, I think this “no collecting rainwater” law was just overturned. Sorry, I can’t find the email/news post we received stating this.
Denver is on the wrong side of the mountains to send water to AZ . However TX ,KS, NE, and OK are all downstream. About 85 % of the western slope water ends up in Kalifornia via the Colorado river storage project. Four of the largest manmade water impoundments in the world. Navajo Lake, 19000 surface acres at 250 feet avg, Lake Powell, 2200 miles of shoreline,700 feet deep in places, Lake Mead, supplier to sin city ,Lake Havasau , Roosevelt lake, and a few others. almost all of this water is held in reserve for power plant hydroelectric use and the rest irrigates and supplies drinking water for LA and surrounds .Every drop that doesn’t land in the rivers or lakes is spoken for ,so if you don’t have senior water rights you cannot use runoff or drill a well. NM is in the same situation. I know this kind of rambles but it is hard to explain unless you live in the SW US.
They’re limiting farmers on how much water they can pull from their own wells. One farmer actually went to jail recently for not obeying the rules. They have also locked up well houses to keep farmers from drawing too much water.
McCain did a town hall meeting in Denver back in early 08…he even mentioned and thanked Coloradoans for the water supply…
Don’t ask what I do when I am on the other side of The Divide and I find an unused creek. Just adding to the flow.
Your welcome.
This really is rediculous. Wife has relatives in south western Wyoming and the deal with Denver trying to get Wyoming water??? Wow. More info there than I ever wanted to know…