illegal to collect rain water in seattle

[velvett]

this sums it up pretty well:

"We are 100 percent pro-rain barrels. We're absolutely for larger rain cisterns in the right place, certainly in cities where there's excess stormwater that drains directly into the Sound," said Mo McBroom, policy director for the Washington Environmental Council.

"But if we run out of water because people are taking it and irrigating a golf course and we can't have a viable farming community, we're in big trouble."

I get it but doesn't Washington State get a lot of rain?

 

[nimbus]

You are so socialist in some aspects it is funny. If I buy a piece of land with my hard worked money that I earned from serving my country and some mother fucking bureaucratic piece of shit comes by and tells me that the rain that falls from the sky onto my property belongs to the public he is guaranteed to get a UNITY stamp on his forehead and going to be lucky if I don't send him back with with his fucking balls in his hands to show all the other fuckers in his office what it is like to fuck with an Americans rights.

if a river runs through someone's land, is he allowed to dam that river?

 

[nimbus]

I get it but doesn't Washington State get a lot of rain?

it does. but notice that nobody has actually been stopped from collecting rainwater yet. so it seems like the law is there 'just in case'

 

[Megalomaniac]

if a river runs through someone's land, is he allowed to dam that river?

Water rights for a river are determined before a purchase of that property, so the answer to that question is yes if he has 100% of the water rights when he bought that place. More than likely the water rights have already been distributed at purchase time and so the answer would be no. This only proves my point more, you HAVE the water rights from rain to the land when you purchase the property.

 

[nimbus]

if everyone collected all the rainwater that fell on their property, everything would go to shit because there wouldn't be enough city owned water to supply the public. businesses and people in urban areas would have to deal with all these private people - who have no real accountability - to get water. water would be out all the time and people would get sick a lot more often from dirty ass water. Constant access to clean water is too important to put in the hands of private citizens. Plus the whole notion of having rights to rain on your property sounds fucking stupid, since the water itself evaporates from the lakes and oceans which nobody owns.

 

[heatherrae]

if everyone collected all the rainwater that fell on their property, everything would go to shit because there wouldn't be enough city owned water to supply the public. businesses and people in urban areas would have to deal with all these private people - who have no real accountability - to get water. water would be out all the time and people would get sick a lot more often from dirty ass water. Constant access to clean water is too important to put in the hands of private citizens. Plus the whole notion of having rights to rain on your property sounds fucking stupid, since the water itself evaporates from the lakes and oceans which nobody owns.

Really? This doesn't sound correct. I would think that if farmers collected rain water for their irrigation that they would bwe using so much less of the public water supply and that it would be more efficient, resulting in a smaller net usage of water.

???

 

[billfred]

if everyone collected all the rainwater that fell on their property, everything would go to shit because there wouldn't be enough city owned water to supply the public. businesses and people in urban areas would have to deal with all these private people - who have no real accountability - to get water. water would be out all the time and people would get sick a lot more often from dirty ass water. Constant access to clean water is too important to put in the hands of private citizens. Plus the whole notion of having rights to rain on your property sounds fucking stupid, since the water itself evaporates from the lakes and oceans which nobody owns.

You own the rain that falls on your land. Your argument is lame because if people collected the water and used it properly, the city would not need as much water to supply you.

This is purely and act for the city to try and control the water so they can sell it back to you at a profit.

 

[NEO1]

Can someone cliff note me please....

I was busy drinking my bottled water.

K, thanks.

 

[Megalomaniac]

You own the rain that falls on your land. Your argument is lame because if people collected the water and used it properly, the city would not need as much water to supply you.

This is purely and act for the city to try and control the water so they can sell it back to you at a profit.

exactly and more one the case is the fact that most of the water that is used doesn't come from rainwater at all. It comes from snow pack through the winter in the mountain areas as run off. This snow pack is mainly found on the federal and state land of the US and used to fill up lakes and streams throughout the year. Bottom line is that law, though not in effect was created by some complete idiots who were not informed on the subject at hand nor the rights our country provides.

 

[big_bad_buff]

ok this is about collecting rain water that falls on your roof, not collecting for commercial purposes.

I saw on the news last year that showed someone with a 50 gallon drum collecting rain water to water his garden and they were praising it.

Then 3 months later they were talking about how Seattle peeps have the best drinking water in the nation and need to start drinking less bottled water and more of the city water. And now this!