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Oregon man in possession of 13 million gallons of illicit rainwater sentenced to jail
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.
Tue, Aug 14 2012 at 9:00 AM
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I’ve taken a look at some mighty impressive rainwater collection systems in the past, but it appears that Gary Harrington, 64, takes the proverbial cake when it comes to hoarder-esque rainwater collection activities: over the years, the Oregon resident has built three massive reservoirs — in actuality, they’re more like proper man-made ponds — on his 170-acre property on Crowfoot Road in rural Eagle Point that hold roughly 13 million gallons of rainwater and snow runoff. That’s enough agua to fill about 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Of course, it boggles the mind as to what a single man needs that much rainwater for. One would assume that Harrington is reusing it both for irrigation purposes and for non-potable indoor use as well, which, unlike in many states, is permitted in Oregon. But 13 million gallons? Apparently Harrington, who has stocked at least one of the reservoirs with largemouth bass and built docks around it, believes that his watery stash is a much-needed necessity when wildfires pop up in the area. “The fish and the docks are icing on the cake," Harrington tells the Medford Mail Tribune. "It's totally committed to fire suppression."
The bigger story here is that rainwater collection is indeed kosher in Oregon, provided that you’re capturing it from an artificial, impervious surface such as a rooftop with the assistance of rainwater barrels. But an extensive reservoir set-up complete with 10- and 20-foot-tall dams is verboten without the proper, state-issued water-right permits — after all, Oregon law dictates that water is a publicly owned resource — and Harrington did not possess said permits.
And so, after a protracted battle with Oregon’s Water Resources Department, Harrington was convicted of nine misdemeanors and sentenced to 30 days in jail, slapped with a $1,500 fine, and ordered to breach his dams and drain his ponds. After the sentencing in late July, Harrington surrendered himself to authorities late last week and began his stint at the Jackson County Jail.
Apparently, once upon a time, the state did indeed allow Harrington — code name: “Rain Man" — to collect water in his reservoirs. However, officials reversed their decision the same year, 2003, that the three permits were issued, 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.
Despite withdrawal of the permits, Harrington kept on defiantly collectin’ under the belief that the laws did not apply to his situation, adamant that the water was coming strictly from rain and snow melt and not from tributaries flowing into the Big Butte River as officials had claimed. Harrington tells CNSNews.com: "They issued me my permits. I had my permits in hand and they retracted them just arbitrarily, basically. They took them back and said, 'No, you can't have them.' So I've been fighting it ever since."
It gets even more messy with accusations of water diversion and a three-year bench probation issued against Harringon in 2007. In that case, Harrington plead guilty and agreed to open up the gates of his reservoirs only to close them back up again shortly thereafter.
Oregon Water Resources Department Deputy Director Tom Paul tells the Medford Mail Tribune: “Mr. Harrington has operated these three reservoirs in flagrant violation of Oregon law for more than a decade. What we're after is compliance with Oregon water law, regardless of what the public thinks of Mr. Harrington.”
Paul elaborates to CNSNews.com:
A very short period of time following the expiration of his probation, he once again closed the gates and re-filled the reservoirs. So, this has been going on for some time and I think frankly the court felt that Mr. Harrington was not getting the message and decided that they’d already given him probation once and required him to open the gates and he refilled his reservoirs and it was business as usual for him, so I think the court wanted — it felt it needed — to give a stiffer penalty to get Mr. Harrington’s attention.
Lots more on this unusual and dramatic, err, rainstorm of a case — a case that's morphed into a battle not so much over rainwater and reservoirs, but over property rights and government bullying — at the Medford Mail Tribune and CNSNews. You can also hear Harrington’s side of the case via a series of videos featuring legal advisor Dominic Notter and donate to his “get out of jail fund” over at www.empoweringthejury.com if you feel so inclined. The alleged wet bandit tells CNSNews.com: "When something is wrong, you just, as an American citizen, you have to put your foot down and say, ‘This is wrong; you just can’t take away anymore of my rights and from here on in, I’m going to fight it.”
Is Harrington deserved of his folk hero status? Or is he a straight-out theft? Lots of opinions on this one ... what's yours?
Photos: Empowerthejury.com
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The only relatively current story I am finding right now is this one: http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130416/NEWS/3041...
Let me make sure I understand this. Big corporations rape Oregon's environment every day with impunity, and the state throws a guy in jail because he uses rainwater, which fell on his own property, to grow fish, also on his own property. Other states (Alabama, Mississippi) actually pay farmers to do precisely this - trap rainwater and use it to grow fish. Perhaps he needs to relocate to a more rational state.
I have no donation to give except a Supreme Court ruling. I do not know the case # or the vs-vs's. I know it is in there, somewhere. Water and its runoff is surface rights, not mineral rights. The surface rights belong to whom holds the title and deed to the land. 'nuff said! Go check the upper Courts decisions.
This is, a scary president. This is plain and simply an overreach by the goverment. Man goes to jail for collecting rainwater. Just think about it. I was wondering how they were going to get our money with more green technologies, and now I have the answer. You have no rights, only rented legal actions with receipt of purchase.
Yet one more anecdote making a lie of that portion of the National Anthem that says we are the "land of the free." We are not longer free, it's that simple. The government controls everything and everyone. What is so sad is that so many prefer it this way. We did not lose our freedom from some outside enemy. We just gave it away as though it was not worth fighting for; so depressing.
so don't plant trees in Oregon people you could be jailed for stealing too much oxygen.... how the hell do you claim ownership on something that falls freely from the sky???? Only in America!
Good question. Why does Gary think he has the right to build dams and claim ownership of rain by unnaturally impounding it upon his land?
You know the expression " Sometimes, the law is an ass"
Bureaucrats delight in enforcing laws that have absolutely no rational.
Imagine the horror of a soup kitchen when they were asked to have professional drawings made to install a toilet roll...apparently the professional drawings were to cost $500.00.
It is a case of perfectly decent men gone insane!!
In addition to how stupid this is, I don't believe the government is smart enough to regulate even the dumbest of citizens, I would like to know how much in tax dollars was spent to investigate and prosecute this.
Disgusting, this is a clear reason why the american law are so sadish with their Citizens...
I have never read about such stupity before. STOOOPID!!
Rain water comes in to the pond. Rain water leaves when the pond is full by several ways. But the total amount of water is conserved, it is not lost.
Some is stored. This is a constant amount, except for evaporation during non-rain seasons.
So we have a God government who owns the water? I wish a fire on them that this pond might have solved.
only in the usa
Home of the free.
No victim no crime!
Who did he hurt?
better buy jeans with larger pockets, the government wants their hands in there as wel
He should sue God for littering water on his property.
Only on the USofA can you be jailed for storing rain water. Welcome to the POLICE STATE! FFS! Oregon, 4/5ths of this planet is water, how do you justify jailing a man for keeping some of it for himself?
HOLD ON FOLKS - THE ONLY PERSON SAYING ITS RAINWATER IS THE PROPERTY OWNER... buried down toward the end of the article, the State has been able to prove in criminal court that he is blocking CREEKS AND TRIBUTARIES.. not runoff.... hello...
No, it does not say that. It merely mentions a law that an agency cited in reversing a decision. The article clearly states that he was convicted of "collecting rainwater without a permit". The court has not said that he is blocking a creek or tributary. It seems to me, from actually reading the article, that the agency responsible is trying to expand the definition of "tributary" to include rainwater runoff.
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