When It Rains in Oregon, the State Owns the Raindrops

Daniel Dew
The Foundry
Heritage.org
8/7/2012

Who owns the rain? That sounds like a silly question, but the answer may surprise you. If you live in Oregon, Oregon does.

So what does that mean in practice? Well, if you live in Oregon and dig a pond on your own property without a license, and the pond fills with rain water, the state now owns that water. Oh, and apparently you can go to jail if you decide to keep it.

An Oregon man was recently convicted, fined $1,500, and sentenced to 30 days in jail for illegally storing rain water on his property. Gary Harrington is going to spend time in jail because he dug three ponds on his property that were capturing rain water and snow runoff that the state of Oregon says would otherwise go somewhere else. (Did you notice how specific the alleged damages are?)…

The article continues at The Foundry.

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