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[-] scottywh@lemmy.world 76 points 10 months ago

Colorado used to disallow collection of rainwater too because people further down the line supposedly had the rights to that water.

You're now allowed something like 2 - 30 gallon barrels to collect it here now.

[-] RGB3x3@lemmy.world 71 points 10 months ago

Late stage capitalism: where they decide someone owns the fucking rain.

[-] barfplanet@lemmy.world 47 points 10 months ago

Water rights are the opposite of late stage capitalism. It's silly to enforce when we're talking about a residential rain barrel, but when we're talking on much larger scales is critical. When creeks are drying up because landowners are building catchment ponds, water rights start to look pretty good.

[-] Pipoca@lemmy.world 38 points 10 months ago

It's because Colorado water law is based on 'prior appropriations'.

Colorado was settled around mining and ranching, both of which can be water-intensive. It's also a fairly dry place. Water rights have been serious business for a long time.

So the rule was that the first person there had the right to start using river water for their mine. Then, if a second person starts a mine upstream, they had the right to use river water only inasmuch as it didn't impact the prior downstream mine. If there was a drought, the upstream mine had to use less water so the earlier mine wasn't impacted. Rain barrels were prohibited because that water "belonged" to some downstream rights holder, just as using the water from a stream might be prohibited because it belongs to a downstream rights holder.

This isn't really late-stage capitalism. The law in Colorado goes back to some court cases in the 1870s and 1880s.

[-] c0mbatbag3l@lemmy.world 17 points 10 months ago

It's unfortunate that you have like four up votes for explaining the actual History behind it but the guy who just thinks it's an issue that popped up ten years ago has dozens.

[-] greywolf0x1@lemmy.ml 10 points 10 months ago

I'm not sure how upvotes are relevant here considering the time difference between both comments is about 11 hours.

Also, how much does the ratio of ups and downvotes on a post or comment influences your thought on the subject matter?

[-] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

Yeah, but Colorado isn't a desert where people struggle for clean water in the best of times...

And I'm pretty sure the only thing downstream of Gaza is the ocean

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[-] scottywh@lemmy.world 24 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Well, I mean, it isn't entirely illogical... If I lived somewhere that always got approximately the same amount of water year over year but then suddenly my neighbor started straight up "stealing it all" straight out of the sky I might would be pissed too.

[-] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 16 points 10 months ago

Sometimes you have to think about broad impact when developing policy. Sure, laws against rain collection seem draconian on the individual scale, but if a large percentage of the population collected rainwater, reservoirs and water tables can be seriously affected. Not saying this specific Israeli action is justified, but there are valid limitations on water collection put in place to ensure everyone has access.

It would be substantially worse if there were no such limitations in place, and whoever owned the land that drained into communal reservoirs could privately control the water supply of a region.

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[-] Zoboomafoo@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago

"Everything I dislike is late stage capitalism, and I dislike anything I don't understand"

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[-] 3TH4Li4@feddit.ch 44 points 10 months ago

It's illegal or highly fined in a lot of other countries as well. (Especially during dry seasons)

[-] Maggoty@lemmy.world 33 points 10 months ago

In other countries they don't cut you off from water infrastructure either though. Context is important.

[-] S_204@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago

Israel provides 13% of water. Hamas is responsible for the rest. They just build bombs with the water pipes instead.

[-] Maggoty@lemmy.world 18 points 10 months ago

Hamas isn't in power in the West Bank.

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[-] JackGreenEarth@lemm.ee 9 points 10 months ago

(copied from other comment)

That's atrocious. In your own property, no one else is going to collect it. That's different from maing huge pipes and drainage systems over the city, just collecting what would otherwise be on your driveway or patio.

[-] bitsplease@lemmy.ml 21 points 10 months ago

It's one of those things that sounds dumb at first glance, but actually has a lot of sound reasoning behind it, read up on it more if you're interested

[-] MsPenguinette@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

Help the lazy out. What's the sound reason?

[-] sulgoth@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago

People take it to the logical extreme by converting large tracts in water catching systems. Not an issue if a few do it but it usually isn't just a few. It starts depleting aquifers and rivers, causing damage to the ecosystem and communities down the way. Doesn't even need to be water scarce areas either.

[-] acutfjg@feddit.nl 11 points 10 months ago

The earth collects the water where it eventually ends up back in the water table.

[-] badbytes@lemmy.world 33 points 10 months ago

Very little good about Israel these days.

[-] GardenVarietyAnxiety@lemmy.world 32 points 10 months ago

Fuck the Israeli government 100%, but it's illegal to collect rainwater in certain US cities, too.

[-] Leyla@lemmy.world 37 points 10 months ago

But nobody restricts your regular water supply to less than half of what is considered the bare minimum by the UN.

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[-] Annoyed_Crabby@monyet.cc 12 points 10 months ago

Well it's not like Mexico is forbidding the US from collecting.

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[-] Blackmist@feddit.uk 30 points 10 months ago

Same for a lot of places.

Israel wouldn't bother enforcing it when they can just blow up your house and say you're Hamas.

[-] Num10ck@lemmy.world 19 points 10 months ago

this is also the law in Los Angeles, for what its worth.

[-] Maggoty@lemmy.world 20 points 10 months ago

In Los Angeles foreigners don't break your access to water infrastructure and call the army on you when you attempt to fix it.

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[-] timetravelingnoodles@kbin.social 11 points 10 months ago

It is here in Texas too…

[-] carl_dungeon@lemmy.world 15 points 10 months ago

The rain in Texas belongs to Israel authorities?

[-] timetravelingnoodles@kbin.social 9 points 10 months ago

Might as well, they can do no wrong in the eyes of our esteemed leaders…

[-] Instigate@aussie.zone 10 points 10 months ago

That’s so strange to me. Living in Australia, we face very similar periodic drought conditions that California faces as well. Rather than being discouraged from capturing rainwater to use, we’re actively encouraged to do so, with many governments previously offering subsidies for rainwater tanks particularly during drought times. We have specific colourings for rainwater taps (purple) and you can buy signs to put up in your yard that say that you use rainwater, so people don’t get mad if you’re watering your lawn. These subsidies were usually alongside heavy water restrictions including not being able to water lawns; not watering plants during daylight hours; not using a hose to wash your car (a pressure washer from a bucket is allowed) etc.

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[-] chemicalwonka@discuss.tchncs.de 16 points 10 months ago

are you fucking kidding me?

[-] peopleproblems@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago

I hope domestic needs includes drinking.

Please don't drink rain water. It's not safe for human consumption. Plants will be ok, you will not be.

[-] mlg@lemmy.world 17 points 10 months ago

I mean... you know we have filtration technology right?

You don't drink raw water out of an unclear well or even clear river either bruh

[-] Agent641@lemmy.world 11 points 10 months ago

I slurp it straight out of the gutter, leaves and all.

Cometely unrelated but something is wriggling inside my eyeball.

[-] peopleproblems@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

Of course.

How many people in Gaza right now have access to a reverse osmosis filter?

[-] mlg@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago

Oh in that case I'm sure they would all prefer to die of dehydration instead of drinking slightly contaminated rainwater.

Because it must be equally as bad as all the sewage ground water.

[-] ICastFist@programming.dev 5 points 10 months ago

Simply boiling the water is enough to kill most harmful microorganisms that might be in the water.

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this post was submitted on 19 Nov 2023
538 points (100.0% liked)

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