are ponds illegal in oregon

I read an article about a man in oregon getting jail time for building ponds. Is there more to this story or is oregon not permaculture friendly?

Shawn, I saw this PRI thread and thought of your post.
Not specifically ponds, but the water-catchment thing generally.

This is the article from natural news.

There is more to the story than what "Natural News" wishes to publish.

In most western states, all water does in fact belong to the permies. It is part of the state's responsibility to assure that nobody takes more than their fair share. Even if you drill a well on your property, the water you draw from it is public water, not yours. If you draw more than a reasonable amount, the state can demand that you buy water rights.

The state does not claim ownership, as the article erroneously states. They are merely custodians of the public property.

While I do not believe all that our government tells us, I can believe even less of what "Natural News" tells us. They each have their agendas, and will skew the 'facts' any way that they believe will benefit their cause.

I believe that the way to go about containment is to do it on a small enough scale that you don't catch everybody's attention.
Don't get greedy with the public's water.

Here is the law that Utah adopted to allow rainwater catchment. from Gary Abshire of Permaculture Utah FB


http://le.utah.gov/~code/TITLE73/htm/73_03_000105.htm

and from Oregon Permaculture Revival FB page: Barbara Shaw

Kelly, thanks for the heads up. Bolivians fought for the right to collect water after a big corporation took over their river, and won.

The thing to do here is to go ahead and collect, as farmers always have done without interference.
(So, it is a right in common law, right?) Then if the state tries to intervene, create a test case and make them prove they own the rain. Maybe ACLU would support it. Maybe E-law would support it.

Barb