I don't know if this will fall under the umbrella of Agenda 21, but for some time here in New South Wales, Australia, we have government legislation that determines how much rainwater a farmer can harvest.
Here's an introduction to the above, and please forgive me if I've typed of this before now - it somehow seems appropriate.
In NSW we have a continuous mountain range that runs basically North/South, which divides the coast (at it's widest, about 100K's) from the rest of the state. On the east of the Great dividing Range, the majority of the states population lives, and coincedentally, 90% of the state average rain falls (av. 26"), but only 10% of foodstuffs are grown.
All of this rain runs into the sea, due to the fact that once it hits the ground it is non potable.
West of the Great Divide, 10% of the states people live, growing 90% of the food required for the state. the size of our properties determines the size and holding capacity of our dams necesary for watering of stock.
The majority of our creeks stop running in late spring, usually drying up through summer, to be replenished in late autumn by sometimes predictable rains. If we are lucky we have a river that runs through, or borders our collective properties where we can buy an allocation of predetermined water from our government.
If we aren't lucky, we have to rely soley on water harvested from rain, or, buy water and truck it in for our stocks requirements.
Because Government legislation determines the size of dams built, with Government officials signing off on the completed dam, it determines that the local isohyet and the size of our property predicts that we can harvest 10% of all rainfall - if it rains at all - with frequent long term spells of El Nino determining that.
With 10 percent rainfall of the states average, falling west of the Great Divide, and we being allowed to harvest 10% of that, we are generally relying on 1% of the states rainfall (.26"...yes that's 1/4 of an inch) to water our stock - as I said before, we are considered lucky if we have a permanent river/creek that flows year round - it is usually at this time that cyanobacteria builds up in our flowless rivers, exacerbating the situation, with stock deaths prevalent if the water/mud holes haven't been isolated from the stock.
You are most probably thinking about the rest of the rainfall harvested, and what happens to it. Good question. As soon as rainfall hits the ground on your property, and enters into a watercourse, that water is now the property of a Water Catchment Authority. The State Water Corporation Act 2004 and the Sydney Water Catchment Management Act 1998 determines the legislation, and the penalties imposed in any transgression.
And I quote;
"The State has the right to the control, use and flow of all water in rivers, lakes and aquifers as well as all water occurring naturally on or below the surface of the ground. There is uncertainty about how this other surface water is controlled. The Amendment Act removes some of that uncertainty"
I live approximately 200 kilometres from Sydney, the states capital, in a town that has the Wollondilly River flowing through it - as it is - the river belongs to the Sydney Water Catchment Authority, with all water from our area flowing down to Sydneys dams, where it is then piped back up here to Goulburn, at rural prices (my average consumption last quarter was 140 litres a day - my bill for that quarter was $AU 300.00) even though we have a permanent river that flows through and alongside of our town.
So...maybe there is manipulation, by a higher authority, and maybe the Australian Buy Back Scheme was all part of the plan - who knows - maybe a case of Though the mills of God grind slowly; Yet they grind exceeding small;
