Who'll Stop The Rain? The Medford Water Commission...

The Irish say “May the blessing of God's soft rain be on you” but in Oregon that soft blessing apparently comes with hard time.

It belongs to the government… not you or me. Gary Harrington of Eagle point will have a lot of time to think about “who’ll stop the rain” because he’s going to jail for 30 days after being convicted of taking the government’s rain. Here is an excerpt from CNS News:

Harrington said the case first began in 2002, when state water managers told him there were complaints about the three “reservoirs” – ponds – on his more than 170 acres of land.

According to Oregon water laws, all water is publicly owned. Therefore, anyone who wants to store any type of water on their property must first obtain a permit from state water managers.

Harrington said he applied for three permits to legally house reservoirs for storm and snow water runoff on his property. One of the “reservoirs” had been on his property for 37 years, he said.

Though the state Water Resources Department initially approved his permits in 2003, the state – and a state court -- ultimately reversed the decision.

“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,” Harrington told CNSNews.com.

The Medford Water Commission was given ownership of rain and melted snow almost a hundred years ago. Harrington channels that water into a couple of ponds on his 172 acres. But the government insists that water doesn't belong to him and plans to dump that water…just as fire season gets underway.

Harrington now has 9 misdemeanor convictions on his record, fifteen hundred dollars in fines and 30 days to serve in the pokey.

So go forewarned…the president says you didn't build that business you’re so proud of, and you don’t own those rain drops

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