Posted on 04/08/2017 8:18:21 AM PDT by rktman
No argument about that.
The long-understood definition of "navigable waters" has been "bodies of water which are deep and wide enough to be usable for shipping". The federal government's alleged authority to oversee "navigable waters" comes from the Interstate Commerce clause, which implies their authority only extends to waters suitable for commercial shipping. Thus, the Mississippi River is navigable water. The Great Lakes are navigable waters. A foot-deep stream running behind my house is NOT a navigable water.
As a real estate agent, I am ethically bound to tell my clients about anything of which I am aware (or SHOULD be aware) that can affect their property value. Usually it is in written form and saved to my file, so they can not say “you never told me that”. But this one I can’t put in writing because of fear of prosecution.
A buyer or seller of vacant land should carefully inspect it for any signs of “endangered” wildlife, “protected” plant life and any thing that might indicate that it could be a wetland. The presence of any of these factors can render it unbuildable and of little or no value. But never hire an environmentalist to do it; they’ll rat you out to the authorities.
If it is appears to be a wetland, swampy, marshy, muddy without any recent rain, don’t buy it unless you first check to see if there is a perched water table (a shallow clay layer which prevents water from percolating through the subsoil- an in-the-ground mud puddle writ large). If the clay layer is relatively thin you can punch holes in it, fill them with gravel and allow the water to drain away and the ground to dry out. Reseed or plant with upland vegetation that does not do well in a wetland. If it is a true wetland, there is no cure; don’t buy it. Assuming it can be dried, move to the next step.
Relocate or otherwise remove (SSS?) any questionable animal or plant life. Let your conscience be your guide. There are a few truly endangered species that are actually of some value to the ecosystem; try to find them a new home. But there are so many other useless critters on that list... If your property is outed as having them in residence, you’re toast.
I can tell this to a client, but I can’t document it. Come to think of it, maybe posting this isn’t such a smart idea...hope we’re not being monitored by the ecowarriors!
Was that the doorbell?
You must be in the Mono Basin or Long Valley area, only place I am aware that those idiots would classify a roadside ditch as a trout or salmon run.
They are now starting to do it up here in Trinity.
WHAT?
You think those Gestapo SOBs don’t monitor everything we say here?
But I think your safe here, your just giving advice to any potential property buyer, your not TELLING any body to break the law, just telling us what to look out for in a purchase.
As they say “CAVEAT EMPTOR”.
El Dorard County Ca where gold was discovered.
The county road is built on mine tailings and is now ( cough cough) pristine wilderness.
Yes of course the clean water rules are about turning over state and local control to the Feds. State and local Greens found that they didn’t have enough authority to enact any fines or enforce regulations beyond zoning rules and planning boards, so they brought in the Feds.
WA State has taken some different steps for controlling water. In my county, they are making all property owners prove that their new private well will not detrimentally affect higher water rights users, meaning the Indians. They have effectively put a moratorium on new private wells for the foreseeable future and towns and cities are unlikely to extend water outside of city limits.
Remember, it rains a lot here. There is no water shortage.
Here in the "headwaters" of the Chesapeake, they are trying to classify those roadside ditches as 'High Quality Cold Water Fisheries', meaning that they can maintain life for the Native Brown Trout (which is actually from Europe) so they can keep all runoff causing development back from the stream in a controlled buffer zone... of 100' or more.
All about stopping any new development, and taking every opportunity to roll back existing development.
Those who control the water, control the world!
Control is very reason ‘US Rivers’ have been under federal attacks to take them over. mostly political NWO members who want to control the world as globalists. Climate Change and EPA are tools used to claim as the reason they must assume that power. I believe in being conservative with resources, and caring for the land....some are nuts with little understanding of what really works!
Hopefully, President DJT has begun replacing such UN lovers, that support giving them control of our water. Remember the late 90s/early 2000, when every state in southeast was fighting to water their cattle, as land grabbing environmentalist politicians were taking over farmland with fines?
Sounds like New Mexico went thru that decades before it happened here. I went west for one year in mid 80s...Albuquerque. Some beautiful places in West!
I agree.
I imagine New Mexico and other parts of the west went through it sooner than the east is because of scarcer water supplies.
That makes perfect sense to me....
The government take over by Land Management in West is a little bit scary? I don’t visit there and I have one friend in AZ, but haven’t been out there in years...does the constant setting aside of land for parks make a lot of sense to you for that area?
I think I remember that Albuquerque had a lake or big water area underneath that supplied to that city...of course that was 30 yrs ago. Hopefully, the drought we have had here isn’t happening in West?
The federal government owns half of the entire Western half of the US, including over 90% of Nevada... and they want more.
Sad!
The Federal Government “owns” huge tracts of land in the west and it gains more under every Democrat president.
Most opposition is to the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) which mostly controls livestock grazing on Federal land..
I think there is a big aquafer under Alb. but don’t know much about it.
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