There is a case that has been taken to the Supreme Court, or is at least at that level, that seeks to turn over control of ALL water in the state of WA to the Indians. The environmentalists started this, encouraging the tribes to push for more and more control of wetlands and streams and finally wells, and finally control of all water that is not specifically deeded by the state in contracts that pre-date the Indian treaties. The lefty Greens were even doing the legal work for the tribes, until they realized that the tribes intended to take this very seriously and that it would be a terrible election issue for the Greens if the tribes won. The lefty legislators even passed regulations that said that (in some districts) it is illegal to place cisterns or rain barrels on your own property to catch the rain, without a permit from DNR and the dept of resources. The reason they gave was that if that rain were allowed to fall freely on the ground, it might run off, onto someone else’s property and wouldn’t be your water any longer.
The tribes lost in court, and in the court of appeals. They are now at the Supreme Court level. My guess is that Obama didn’t want this to go any further this year, not in an election year.
I believe the Clean Water Act also claims your rain barrel.