俄勒冈州一农民挖坑收集雨水被拘留了30天，原因是根据一条1925年的法律规定，当地一条河的水全权归政府，而雨水被认为来自这条河。
农民说他将上诉，但他仍必须服刑30天，他表示，这是一个好国家，正义必胜。
Gary Harrington, an Oregon man, will be spending a month in jail, after being convicted on nine misdemeanor charges. His crime? "Illegally" collecting rain water on his own property.
According to officials with the Medford Water Commission, the water on Harrington's property, whether it came from the sky or not, is considered a tributary of the nearby Crowfoot Creek. Thus it is subject to a 1925 law, giving Medford Water Commission full ownership and rights to the water.
Due to this, prosecutors were able to argue in court that the three man-made boating and fishing ponds on Harrington's property have violated the law.
Harrington says he will attempt to appeal, but as long as the conviction stands, he will have to serve 30 days of imprisonment. He has further been sentenced to an additional three years of probation.
Harrington stated, however, that the 1925 law does not mention anything about collecting snow melt or rainwater, and he believes that he has been falsely accused.
“The withdrawal said the stream and its tributaries. It didn’t mention anything about rainwater and it didn’t mention anything about snow melt and it didn’t mention anything about diffused water, but yet now, they’re trying to expand that to include that rain water and they’re using me as the goat to do it,” he added.
On CNS News, Harrington said that others should be fearful of how they could be attacked next.
He told Associated Press, "When it comes to the point where a rural landowner can't catch rainwater that falls on his land to protect his property, it's gone too far. This should serve as a dire warning to all pond owners."
“This is a good country, we’ll prevail,” he states.