08-04-2013, 09:24 AM
It is usually not the rain catching that is illegal. It is the diversion of natural runoff from a riparian resource used by others that is sometimes illegal and that is for a good reason -- not an arbitrary one.
Imagine that every property owner along a river that served as a drinking source or perhaps even a source of food and recreation (e.g., crop irrigation, fishing) diverted the runoff that feeds that river for their own amusement and recreation....or perhaps to avoid payment of a fee to an irrigation district, or a combination of these motives.
The river would soon run dry. The crops wouldn't get watered and canoes, kayaks and fish would run aground.
Not a problem in Hawaii and absolutely no relation to this state or its issues with water which issues are peculiar to the islands. The American West has a complex system of water laws for a reason: There is not enough of it.
For those who wish a nation or a state without laws, I suggest Somalia. There is absolutely no water policy there of any kind.
Imagine that every property owner along a river that served as a drinking source or perhaps even a source of food and recreation (e.g., crop irrigation, fishing) diverted the runoff that feeds that river for their own amusement and recreation....or perhaps to avoid payment of a fee to an irrigation district, or a combination of these motives.
The river would soon run dry. The crops wouldn't get watered and canoes, kayaks and fish would run aground.
Not a problem in Hawaii and absolutely no relation to this state or its issues with water which issues are peculiar to the islands. The American West has a complex system of water laws for a reason: There is not enough of it.
For those who wish a nation or a state without laws, I suggest Somalia. There is absolutely no water policy there of any kind.