(CA) Water rustlers caught wet-handed

[unhappycamper]

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/aug/19/water-rustlers-caught-in-poway/



Photo taken by a Poway employee showing a San Pasqual Fire Department water tender filling up from a fire hydrant along Valleyview Road in Poway. The department was issued a $1,000 fine for water taken without payment.

Water rustlers caught wet-handed
By Logan Jenkins
11:50 a.m.Aug. 19, 2014

Out in the Wild West, horse rustlers caught in the act were hanged from the closest tree.

Today, in the middle of a drought that makes the storied Death Valley Days look semitropical, you can’t give most horses away.

~snip~

Powegian Tom Carter had a problem. Charles Dilts, a board member of the San Pasqual Fire Department, had a solution.

Carter was in the process of connecting his property to Poway’s main water line, which is metered, but, in the meantime, he needed a big slug of water to his near-dry well to keep his landscaping from dying.

[procon]

1. This happens all the time in my rural community

We have a small community owned water system and residents are asked to be vigilant of this kind of brazen theft. Government agencies are the biggest culprits, but also out of district farms and construction protects.

All of our hydrants are clearly labeled and users can go the water office to purchase a long term water permit or just buy a single load. The majority just steal the water.