permaculture

[Toby Hemenway <toby@patternliteracy.com>]

This is, as Andrew says, needlessly sensational. Oregon encourages rainwater 
collection from roofs and paved surfaces without a permit, and you can see 
hundreds of rain barrels all over Portland, Eugene, and other cities and 
rural areas that are very visible and legal. The man in question is 
collecting surface runoff in ponds, and may have diverted streams. The laws 
are, indeed, strict about that, with very good reason. I've seen many 
horribly designed ponds that had very negative effects on downstream 
neighbors. Many states do "own" rainfall, to insure that downstream flows are 
not diminished, not a perfect answer, as I'd rather that gov't didn't get 
involved,  but this policy has prevented very irresponsible water projects. 

I know of many pond projects that have gotten permitted. It's not that hard, 
though harder than it was 20 years ago. You need to demonstrate that 
downstream flow will not be diminished over time. That's smart. 

The idea that collecting sunlight could be outlawed by the same logic is just 
silly, as there can be no downstream "sun flow," unless we're talking about 
blocking a neighbor's sun, which is something I think should not be permitted.

Inflammatory articles like this do more harm than good, and this one is not 
well thought out. The "it's mine and I can do whatever I want with it" 
argument is nonsensical and harmful when it comes to water, land, and 
anything connected to the commons. What does follow from that kind of poor 
thinking is, "I can pollute the water and land inside my property line 
because it's mine" and we've seen where that goes.

Permaculture is not being criminalized. Destructive resource damage is.

Toby
http://patternliteracy.com


On Jul 30, 2012, at 3:21 AM, georg parlow wrote:

> Is it really that bad in the US?
> Georg
>> The State of Oregon has declared war on sustainable living and self- 
>> reliance by criminalizing rainwater collection. A man who owns 170  
>> acres of land is now being sent to jail and fined over $1500 for the  
>> "crime" of "stealing water from the state" by collecting rainwater  
>> on his own land!
>> 
>> This is not a joke. It's yet another example of runaway collectivism  
>> that is fast spreading across America.
>> 
>> Importantly, if Oregon can claim ownership of the rainwater that  
>> falls on your land, the state could also outlaw solar panels by  
>> claiming "sunlight photons" are the property of the state, too!
>> 
>> Read my coverage of this breaking story at:
>> http://www.naturalnews.com/036615_Oregon_rainwater_permaculture.html
>> 
> 
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