Wyoming welder faces $75,000 a day in EPA fines for building pond on his propert

[Ptarmigan]

Wyoming welder faces $75,000 a day in EPA fines for building pond on his property
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/03/14/wyoming-welder-faces-fine-for-building-pond-on-his-own-property/

All Andy Johnson wanted to do was build a stock pond on his sprawling eight-acre Wyoming farm. He and his wife Katie spent hours constructing it, filling it with crystal-clear water, and bringing in brook and brown trout, ducks and geese. It was a place where his horses could drink and graze, and a private playground for his three children.

But instead of enjoying the fruits of his labor, the Wyoming welder says he was harangued by the federal government, stuck in what he calls a petty power play by the Environmental Protection Agency. He claims the agency is now threatening him with civil and criminal penalties – including the threat of a $75,000-a-day fine.

The EPA should be disbanded. Government is really over reaching.

[longview]

I am not a fan of the EPA, but:

There is more to this story than the news media prints.  Water rights here are really, really complicated.  Really.  

What you want to use and where, affects many people and animals.  Water rights do not go along with all real estate.  The EPA had only a tiny bit to do with this mess, but popular news sources seem to use whatever hot topics, or agencies, they can to get an audience.

The prudent thing to do, in Wyoming, when thinking about any project involving water, is to get the opinion of a water attorney before you start.  Saves one a lot of grief, whether from the government or your neighbors.

[Ptarmigan]

There is more to this story than the news media prints.  Water rights here are really, really complicated.  Really. 

What you want to use and where, affects many people and animals.  Water rights do not go along with all real estate.  The EPA had only a tiny bit to do with this mess, but popular news sources seem to use whatever hot topics, or agencies, they can to get an audience.

The prudent thing to do, in Wyoming, when thinking about any project involving water, is to get the opinion of a water attorney before you start.  Saves one a lot of grief, whether from the government or your neighbors.

Water right is complex. People could go to war over that.

[longview]

Water right is complex. People could go to war over that.

You're right.

[Ptarmigan]

You're right.

One reason why California is going to have a hard time splitting.

[NHSparky]

I am not a fan of the EPA, but:

There is more to this story than the news media prints.  Water rights here are really, really complicated.  Really.  

What you want to use and where, affects many people and animals.  Water rights do not go along with all real estate.  The EPA had only a tiny bit to do with this mess, but popular news sources seem to use whatever hot topics, or agencies, they can to get an audience.

The prudent thing to do, in Wyoming, when thinking about any project involving water, is to get the opinion of a water attorney before you start.  Saves one a lot of grief, whether from the government or your neighbors.

Living in WY, CO, NM, UT, AZ, it's amazing the regulations concerning even rain that falls on your property (in many places, you can't even collect/store it.)  But federal agencies do tend to overreach more than a little bit.

[thundley4]

I could see there being a problem if he did dam an existing stream or creek, but if he just dug down deep enough for the pond to form from ground water, then what's the problem?


You con't drive more than a mile or so down the interstates in Illinois without seeing a pond alongside the road.  They are from excavations done to provide the raised road beds for the highways.

[longview]

I could see there being a problem if he did dam an existing stream or creek, but if he just dug down deep enough for the pond to form from ground water, then what's the problem?

That's a really good question and one that gets a lot of people cross wise with the laws and agencies and neighbors.

Even the water under your ground is not only "your" water.  It may come from a creek, irrigation source, or aquifer that has other claims on it.  Claims are weighted.  One person's claim may be older or a certain person may have a right to a certain amount.

There are also restrictions in some areas, and this dude was in one, on how much surface water there can be on a place.  Water is so scarce and valuable, it can be considered wasteful to let it just evaporate away.

I cannot count how many people I've met and stories I've heard of folks buying real estate here and THEN finding out they have little to no water rights.  Or some unknowing soul gets a well dug, and finds himself in court up against his neighbors because what he is drawing adversely effected their use and rights.  It's the touchiest subject one runs into.  Can really make or break a place.