Replies

If you dig down into the article there are some interesting tidbits:

- the county didn’t take issue with the pond until Jon sought to grow legal medical cannabis on the land and had to prove there was a viable source of water for the grow operation

- Besides a trailer home and dilapidated house, the pond is the only thing of value on their acreage, and, obviously, as Sabrina said, “We didn’t buy it for the double-wide.”

- [former owner] Gary Harrington spent 90 days in jail for illegally harboring some 13 million gallons of illicit rainwater — that’s enough rain to fill around 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools

- “1925 state law dictates that the water belongs to the Medford Water Commission.”

So there is a law dating back to 1925 regulating this situation. 1925 was before we had aggressive EPA types trampling on us. So the law may actually have some merit.

Water is a precious resource and there can be genuine problems downstream, so to speak, if a landowner creates an enormous diversion like the previous property owner, Harrington, appears to have done.

Just as the right to free speech has some common-sense limitations (e.g. yelling fire in a crowded theater may not always be a right), the right to "do as you please" with your own property has some common sense limitations too.

the county didn’t take issue with the pond until Jon sought to grow legal medical cannabis on the land and had to prove there was a viable source of water for the grow operation

Ok that makes a big diffrence.. not because it cannabis.

But they are looking to use the water to farm..

Yes someone one besides a land owner can own a lands water rights

Let say I own a piece of property including all water rights and all mineral or oil rights

I can sell the water rights to another farm (or are we saying im not free to sell my property or a part of it including in this case my water rights)

And so the mineral and oil rights to another

Then sell the land to even another

The new land owner can not now claim the water and mineral rights because they were already sold previously

Of course this is should all be in the title when you bought the property

So I’m curious that when these people bought this land a few years ago obviously with the intention of using this water for this cannabis farm did they look in the title the see that they didn’t have the water rights

If it’s not there they have a right to go back to title insurance that’s the point of title insurance do make sure you’re free of all of or aware of other claims on the property

The right to buy and sell your property as you see fit..

ironically will create cases down the line when someone else will not own all the right to the property they bought

Because the previous owner they bought it from

Already sold some of the property rights to another