News

**Black H@t**

A rural Oregon man was sentenced Wednesday to 30 days in jail and over $1,500 in fines because he had three reservoirs on his property to collect and use rainwater.

Gary Harrington of Eagle Point, Ore., says he plans to appeal his conviction in Jackson County (Ore.) Circuit Court on nine misdemeanor charges under a 1925 law for having what state water managers called “three illegal reservoirs” on his property – and for filling the reservoirs with rainwater and snow runoff.

“The government is bullying,” Harrington told CNSNews.com in an interview Thursday.

“They’ve just gotten to be big bullies and if you just lay over and die and give up, that just makes them bigger bullies. So, we as Americans, we need to stand on our constitutional rights, on our rights as citizens and hang tough. This is a good country, we’ll prevail,” he said.

The court has given Harrington two weeks to report to the Jackson County Jail to begin serving his sentence.

Source:
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/oregon-m...s-property

**Lioness724**

Black H@t Wrote:

A rural Oregon man was sentenced Wednesday to 30 days in jail and over $1,500 in fines because he had three reservoirs on his property to collect and use rainwater.

Gary Harrington of Eagle Point, Ore., says he plans to appeal his conviction in Jackson County (Ore.) Circuit Court on nine misdemeanor charges under a 1925 law for having what state water managers called “three illegal reservoirs” on his property – and for filling the reservoirs with rainwater and snow runoff.

“The government is bullying,” Harrington told CNSNews.com in an interview Thursday.

“They’ve just gotten to be big bullies and if you just lay over and die and give up, that just makes them bigger bullies. So, we as Americans, we need to stand on our constitutional rights, on our rights as citizens and hang tough. This is a good country, we’ll prevail,” he said.

The court has given Harrington two weeks to report to the Jackson County Jail to begin serving his sentence.

Source:
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/oregon-m...s-property

Aahhh, the land of the free.....NOT!!!!

**King_David**

Seems to be some dispute as to if he is capturing rain water on his own land or diverting water he does not own the water rights to.

The courts seem to be of the opinion that he in fact does not own the rights to the water he is trapping. He served 3 Years probation after entering a guilty plea on this charge once before, but now is trapping the water again.

Water rights are serious dealings, how would you like it if someone cut off your water supply?

There are reasons we have laws about water rights. In this case the State maybe enforcing the law without a big need for it, but he could have just as easily fought to get the proper permits without refilling his ponds.

He chose to break the law, he knew he was breaking the law, and now he's going to serve 30 days for breaking the law, not for trapping rainwater on his own property as he claims.

**LoP Guest** lop guest User ID: 110114 07-28-2012 04:16 AM

This is the fourth thread on this subject.

The guy broke the law.

His land does not have water rights.

He took water from a creek or ditch that belonged to other people who own land that DOES have water rights.

Read the story. This is the 2nd time he's been caught damning up the source and diverting it to his property. As soon as his probation was over, he damned it up again.

You must own water rights to take water from a creek or stream or river flowing on your property in Oregon. THAT IS THE LAW. Just because you own property with water on it does not mean you own the rights to the water. He didn't do his due diligence before he bought his property obviously.

IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH COLLECTING RAINWATER RUN OFF OR SNOWMELT. THE TITLE IS INTENTIONALLY MISLEADING.

HE IS BREAKING THE LAW THAT HAS EXISTED AND WORKED FOR ALMOST 100 YEARS.

**LoP Guest** lop guest User ID: 75417 07-28-2012 04:25 AM

LoP Guest Wrote:

This is the fourth thread on this subject.

The guy broke the law.

His land does not have water rights.

He took water from a creek or ditch that belonged to other people who own land that DOES have water rights.

Read the story. This is the 2nd time he's been caught damning up the source and diverting it to his property. As soon as his probation was over, he damned it up again.

You must own water rights to take water from a creek or stream or river flowing on your property in Oregon. THAT IS THE LAW. Just because you own property with water on it does not mean you own the rights to the water. He didn't do his due diligence before he bought his property obviously.

IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH COLLECTING RAINWATER RUN OFF OR SNOWMELT. THE TITLE IS INTENTIONALLY MISLEADING.

HE IS BREAKING THE LAW THAT HAS EXISTED AND WORKED FOR ALMOST 100 YEARS.

Nice to see people with working brains. It's sorely missing these days.