SVreX
MegaDork
1/18/19 3:21 p.m.
frenchyd said:
spitfirebill said:
Apexcarver said:
Make sure your dept of natural resources won't have your hide for altering the creek.
Exactly. The USCOE will hammer you for forking around with the "navigable waters of the US". That is in quotes because in no way does it need to be navigable.
I’m pretty sure I recently read where those rules have been changed or are in the process of changing
Yup.
Previous administration interpreted that to mean anything that empties into navigable waters. That’s pretty much everything.
Current administration is probably thinking it means waters that can be navigated by a supertanker.
I suspect the USCOE understands what navigable waters are, but this stuff is enforced by the EPA (answers direct to POTUS, with cabinet-like status)
Good thing we have clear laws we can all understand.
Mill pond. The whole point of a mill pond was to keep a steady water level for the water wheel. If you made it deep enough you could use an over shot water wheel, but a lot of them were designed for undershot wheels. I could draw it out on a napkin pretty easily. Yiu can scale it down because I assume you're not cutting lumber.
I sometimes forget all of the weird stuff I got into back in the day. I was actually accepted to a MS program in Industrial Archaeology right about the same time kid#1 started to grow. I burned a few bridges when I shook that off and stayed to raise my kids.
ShawnG
PowerDork
1/18/19 4:29 p.m.
Wasn't there some discussion a couple years ago on here about some state getting upset with homeowners using rain barrels to collect water because they didn't own the water rights on their property or some silly thing like that.
Maybe be sure that you can actually meddle with the water on your property. I'm sure there's some bored, bureaucratic bookworm just itching to go through someone's affairs over this.
In reply to ShawnG :
I have thought about How to ask about water use rights, we Know It's not what but How you ask.
I have a couple Designs in my head that don't require Stationary ( in the water ) anchors for the wheel Like Toymans Vid.
Property line is Mid stream all the way through but Probably dosen't mean it's mine
You need one of two things: head pressure or flow. Head pressure will let you push a small turbine at high speed. If you have the flow, you need torque. That means a big wheel geared up.
The generator doesn't need to be anything special; repurposed motor, old alternator from a car, etc.
Quadruple check your laws. Where I almost bought a house, it had a very lovely river adjacent. I was not allowed to even mow in a direction that threw grass cuttings into the water. No excavation or modification of any sort 10' back from the bank. The way the law is written around here, you're technically not allowed to throw a stone in the river. Ironically, you're completely allowed to wade in with felt-soled boots that may be carrying organisms from another river, then put a minnow on a hook that isn't native to your area, and remove fish from the river.... but anything that could be construed as altering the habitat is a big no-no. My sister just had this issue and she narrowly escaped legal issues because of a nice DNR officer. She owns BOTH sides of a stream and her sons took some rocks to make a little breakwater. Huge no-no.
