Showdown at the H2O Corral

[Gregg]

That's the title of the article (http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/10/us/tombstone-water-fight/index.html?hpt=hp_c1) describing a classic battle of local vs. federal, needs of a town vs. wilderness protection and the battle over water rights that everyone in the west is all too familiar with. And its playing out in, of all places, Tombstone.

[redfox]

http://www.bluegold-worldwaterwars.com/alt.html

Check out this movie.

[HumboldtGurl]

DH and I spent a few months caretaking a house on 10 acres in that vicinity, about two years ago. We were astonished at the lack of water restrictions in Southern AZ. For example....trying to keep your shade trees alive? Water them as much as you want. Got livestock? Use your well water, no big deal. Wash your car, flood your yard, who cares? There seemed to be no restrictions for homeowners with acreage. I could be wrong, but when I asked locals about water restrictions they looked at us like we were nuts.

This was shocking because in Colorado, where much of AZ water originates from, we are prohibited from using our property's well water for anything but domestic uses INSIDE the house, or we will get fined. This is pretty typical for Colorado's rural homeowners who don't have established water rights. To see AZ using our water so carelessly was annoying to say the least.

[Gregg]

We were in the mountains in CO for years. At one point I applied for a permit to put in a rainwater catchment system (gutters, piping, underground tank). I was told that it was illegal because all the rain that fell in that particular drainage was owned by folks in AZ. How bizarre is that? It didn't exactly halt the project, but it did surprise a lot of my neighbors when they learned how the laws protecting water ownership worked.

[redfox]

Rainwater in WA state is owned by the state. Municipalites don't enforce that, though, and we all catch rain. Water rights & law are pretty stuck in the 19th century, with the unlimited suppy view belief as the basis.

The 21st century is an interesting place to be...