If I'm not a member of a protected region can I place water? It makes sense to be able to place flowing water in areas you belong to and any non-protected regions. The only damage that can be done then is by accident. For many of us who have been playing together for many years I can't imagine having an issue with people using water maliciously. The wrath they would face from the rest of the town would be incredible. A lot of us know where to find each other in real life so it's not impossible for us to enforce our rules using swift, deliberate kicks to the nutsack/uterus.
A good compromise for flowing water could be that mods aren't expected to fix damage done by water.