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Quite a variety of rules, laws and regulations. I'm fairly sure there are errors in this list but the effort to compile it must have been significant. Kudos. I

by nkssy 5y ago

Quite a variety of rules, laws and regulations. I'm fairly sure there are errors in this list but the effort to compile it must have been significant. Kudos. Its so strange to think of rainwater collection as illegal. That is utterly dystopian. But there it is across multiple areas. Rules against solar? Wow! That's backwards and just screams stupid. On the flip side, I fully get regulation for any connection to the grid as with some kind of permit for the house wiring in general. House wiring should be up to some agreed upon code so its not made of sticky tape and extension cords.

PragmaticPulp 5y ago
> Its so strange to think of rainwater collection as illegal. That is utterly dystopian. The laws around water rights are surprisingly complex and have a long history. In practice, no one is going to care or pursue a homeowner for collecting rainwater on their property for personal use. It’s one of those situations where the laws were written with other scenarios in mind (protecting water rights holders) but there hasn’t been a clarification or carve out for personal use exemptions because it’s not really an issue that comes up frequently or maybe at all.
- dreamcompiler 5y ago
  Until about 15 years ago Colorado was extremely serious about fining people caught collecting rainwater. Like somebody with a bucket of petunias watered from their rain gutter. It was ridiculous.
CGamesPlay 5y ago
> Its so strange to think of rainwater collection as illegal. That is utterly dystopian. But there it is across multiple areas. Which states? The only one I saw was Nevada, which is a desert. In a place with not enough water to spare, bogarting it can cause serious problems for other residents.
- roflc0ptic 5y ago
  Florida, for one
  - CGamesPlay 5y ago
    > Rainwater harvesting is legal and encouraged in Florida. Many municipalities even offer incentives and rebates for rainwater harvesting.
lelandfe 5y ago
I can sorta kinda dream up a reason for solar rules to exist. Not good ones, mind. But can anyone take Devil’s advocate here and explain why a state might want to limit or prohibit rainwater collection? I’m struggling. Surely it can’t just be financially motivated, right?
- tonyedgecombe 5y ago
  I suppose you could argue from a health perspective, you don’t want half arsed systems that lead to people getting cholera.
- denton-scratch 5y ago
  > why a state might want to limit or prohibit rainwater collection It seems nuts to me - a bit like regulating the breathing of air, or restricting the right to look at the sky. I can only suppose that these regulations protect the revenue of water companies. I can't think of any socially-useful reason for restricting rainwater harvesting, when the rain is falling on private property. Harvesting all the rain that falls on a floodplain is another matter; that would amount to appropriating an entire river, which in some parts of the world would cause an "international incident".
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- pkaye 5y ago
  If a lot of it in diverted it might disrupt the ecosystem of ponds and streams that existed.
- kwhitefoot 5y ago
  Collecting rainwater disturbs the flow of water to downstream users.
  - 5y ago
dukeyukey 5y ago
> Its so strange to think of rainwater collection as illegal If you take a few gallons, it's fine. If you and 10,000 other people take a few gallons, that a problem. So we need to regulate it a little.
- Dylan16807 5y ago
  If you and 10,000 other people take a few gallons, then in total you match the annual water use of a single household.
- DudeInBasement 5y ago
  Imagine buying a place, then unable to collect water, plant a garden, breathe the air. You are only allowed to work for the man, pay taxes, and buy from big business
- omegant 5y ago
  Why is it a problem? Honest question. In the mediterranean basin it was a necessity to collect rain water and store it in a big underground cistern. Most people don’t do it now a days, but old houses still have the system in place. If you use it, you keep the first rain waters of the season diverted to allow for roof cleaning, then you set the pipes to store the water during all the winter. You also have to keep some control of water quality. The traditional method is throwing a lime stone in to the cistern to kill the patogens.
  - mason55 5y ago
    The western US has a different concept of water rights because there’s literally not enough water for everyone to do what they want with it. All the water that falls is already accounted for, possibly by someone way downstream of you. Even if you don’t live near a river, that water is draining to somewhere and spoken for. If everyone collects it then whoever has the claim to that water is being denied their property rights, most of which were allocated on the basic concept of “finders keepers” a couple hundred years ago during the settling of the American west. The challenge is that people invest their money and lives (building businesses) on the fact that they have these water rights so it’s hard to change without creating high emotions on both sides (“water is a human right” vs the primacy of property rights)

by nkssy 5y ago

PragmaticPulp 5y ago

> Its so strange to think of rainwater collection as illegal. That is utterly dystopian. The laws around water rights are surprisingly complex and have a long history. In practice, no one is going to care or pursue a homeowner for collecting rainwater on their property for personal use. It’s one of those situations where the laws were written with other scenarios in mind (protecting water rights holders) but there hasn’t been a clarification or carve out for personal use exemptions because it’s not really an issue that comes up frequently or maybe at all.

dreamcompiler 5y ago
Until about 15 years ago Colorado was extremely serious about fining people caught collecting rainwater. Like somebody with a bucket of petunias watered from their rain gutter. It was ridiculous.

CGamesPlay 5y ago

> Its so strange to think of rainwater collection as illegal. That is utterly dystopian. But there it is across multiple areas. Which states? The only one I saw was Nevada, which is a desert. In a place with not enough water to spare, bogarting it can cause serious problems for other residents.

roflc0ptic 5y ago
Florida, for one
- CGamesPlay 5y ago
  > Rainwater harvesting is legal and encouraged in Florida. Many municipalities even offer incentives and rebates for rainwater harvesting.

lelandfe 5y ago

I can sorta kinda dream up a reason for solar rules to exist. Not good ones, mind. But can anyone take Devil’s advocate here and explain why a state might want to limit or prohibit rainwater collection? I’m struggling. Surely it can’t just be financially motivated, right?

tonyedgecombe 5y ago
I suppose you could argue from a health perspective, you don’t want half arsed systems that lead to people getting cholera.
denton-scratch 5y ago
> why a state might want to limit or prohibit rainwater collection It seems nuts to me - a bit like regulating the breathing of air, or restricting the right to look at the sky. I can only suppose that these regulations protect the revenue of water companies. I can't think of any socially-useful reason for restricting rainwater harvesting, when the rain is falling on private property. Harvesting all the rain that falls on a floodplain is another matter; that would amount to appropriating an entire river, which in some parts of the world would cause an "international incident".
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
pkaye 5y ago
If a lot of it in diverted it might disrupt the ecosystem of ponds and streams that existed.
kwhitefoot 5y ago
Collecting rainwater disturbs the flow of water to downstream users.
- 5y ago

dukeyukey 5y ago

> Its so strange to think of rainwater collection as illegal If you take a few gallons, it's fine. If you and 10,000 other people take a few gallons, that a problem. So we need to regulate it a little.

Dylan16807 5y ago
If you and 10,000 other people take a few gallons, then in total you match the annual water use of a single household.
DudeInBasement 5y ago
Imagine buying a place, then unable to collect water, plant a garden, breathe the air. You are only allowed to work for the man, pay taxes, and buy from big business
omegant 5y ago
Why is it a problem? Honest question. In the mediterranean basin it was a necessity to collect rain water and store it in a big underground cistern. Most people don’t do it now a days, but old houses still have the system in place. If you use it, you keep the first rain waters of the season diverted to allow for roof cleaning, then you set the pipes to store the water during all the winter. You also have to keep some control of water quality. The traditional method is throwing a lime stone in to the cistern to kill the patogens.
- mason55 5y ago
  The western US has a different concept of water rights because there’s literally not enough water for everyone to do what they want with it. All the water that falls is already accounted for, possibly by someone way downstream of you. Even if you don’t live near a river, that water is draining to somewhere and spoken for. If everyone collects it then whoever has the claim to that water is being denied their property rights, most of which were allocated on the basic concept of “finders keepers” a couple hundred years ago during the settling of the American west. The challenge is that people invest their money and lives (building businesses) on the fact that they have these water rights so it’s hard to change without creating high emotions on both sides (“water is a human right” vs the primacy of property rights)