Man jailed for 30 Days for Catching Rain Water on Own Property | CNSNews.com: Is this justice?

I'm fairly conservative, but sorry, on this I agree. In most places it it illegal to divert natural water runoff or impede it if it flows to a creek,stream, river or natural water shed. There are also numerous local, state, and federal regulations regarding construction of dams and retention basins,for public safety and other concerns. I wish they had pics of the property with the article. If he did nothing more than dig big basins in the middle of his property that would be one thing but according to the article he built dams across natural washes and closed the gates preventing the natural flow. That's a far cry from collecting rain water and snow runoff from his property. Check your deeds folks. Few people these days have either water or mineral rights on their own property, especially in an urban/semi urban community. If you are in a water district, most likely you can not have a well on your property. Be very careful when establishing a water district and the powers you give them.
The Antelope Valley in California's high desert was for years the largest producer of alfalfa in the west. The cities of Palmdale and Lancaster established rural and municipal water districts on the vote of the people. As the cities annexed more area, the water districts expanded with the annexed territory. They put meters on the farmers wells and started charging them for the water they previously got for the cost of pumping it out of the ground. They went from 5 to 6 harvests per year down to 1 or 2 from natural rain, and eventually just ceased operations. A short twenty years later and hundreds of thousands of acres of once fertile farm land are blowing dust and tumble weeds. All perfectly legal.