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.
Late stage capitalism: where they decide someone owns the fucking rain.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Its gods water
It's illegal or highly fined in a lot of other countries as well. (Especially during dry seasons)
(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.
Very little good about Israel these days.
Fuck the Israeli government 100%, but it's illegal to collect rainwater in certain US cities, too.
But nobody restricts your regular water supply to less than half of what is considered the bare minimum by the UN.
But that's not what's highlighted in your meme.
Be angry at the right things. As long as they keep convincing us to be angry at scarecrows the status quo won't change.
Well it's not like Mexico is forbidding the US from collecting.
but it's illegal to collect rainwater in certain US cities, too.
What do you want to tell me with that?
It's illegal pretty much anywhere west of the Mississippi River if I recall correctly.
Damn what are cops going to do, confiscate my buckets? Did you know it's possible to make a diy bucket by melting down ar-15s? You can buy people and harvested organs from the dark web so chances are you can get buckets on there too. Become ungovernable.
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.
this is also the law in Los Angeles, for what its worth.
In Los Angeles foreigners don't break your access to water infrastructure and call the army on you when you attempt to fix it.
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.
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.
are you fucking kidding me?
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.
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
Of course it is safe. It can contain dust and other particles (nowadays mainly some PFAS), but rainwater itself is quite safe.
Of course if you collect it from your gutters it's probably dirty from the crap on your roof.
