You're right Tony! I was deleting my rant in order to stay more on topic as you were commenting...lol

I have truly enjoyed the debate and many points of view this topic has caused...it's useful and provokes thought. It has also been considerate of all points of view even when attempting to alter said points of view with differing opinions and experiences.

As Tony and I also discussed in private, My personal opinions and concerns are formed from very different past experiences in dealing with the Federal regulations than his....all our experiences and thoughts will be as different as our goals for our individual bodies of water.

Earlier, a question was posed about how one person doing something on their land can affect adjoining land... I may not directly offer my answer to that, because each situation is different. We all draw lines in what we do and don't accept.

If I build a bonfire at night and my neighbor has asthma, am I violating his "rights" to clean air? Common respect and courtesy would dictate I would care about my neighbor, and at the very least let him know I plan to have a bonfire. His health issue in NO way constitutes his having a superior right over me enjoying my land, nor does it obligate me to refrain from my activities simply by virtue of his having a health issue. In my view, the asthma sufferer has an obligation to install whatever filter makes them comfortable. If somehow it could be proved my bonfire CAUSED the asthma, I could be sued, made to compensate him somehow....

Applying common sense directly to ponds, I KNOW if I build a pond below another pond, or in an area that will get flooded by a creek. I know I will eventually have whatever fish species are in those other areas. If my upstream neighbor has stocked Bullhead Catfish because he likes them, can I sue and say he "polluted" my pond when they are now in my pond? I could, and I would probably be laughed out of court. But if a construction company was already building a home and there are disturbed soils I know will enter my pond before I build my pond, I could sue for, and win, remediation costs to clear the silt. Both instances, I knowingly build a pond, aware of what will happen, yet only one activity is EPA regulated.....or was till the new EPA rules..