Once upon a time it was fashionable to use windmills for pumping water. On flat ground, an elevated water storage tank was constructed; on terrain which included hills, houses could be situated below tanks, and tanks on high ground. When the wind blew too hard, the tail cocked sideways and caused wind to blow past the blades rather than through them as a governor.
So far, all I've found out about these governors is that they are spring-loaded. But this gave me the idea to use a cascade of windmills attached to a series of storage cisterns to pump water. Ideally they would be situated atop a pressure-sealed tank. The windmill would not only shed wind if the wind became too high, but also if the tank became empty, or if the uphill tank became full, as detected by rising pressure. A system like this could be used to pump water up hill further than a single pump could manage, without the pressure becoming too high at any given point.
It may well turn out that it makes more sense to just mechanically regulate this. With proper hinge setup, I suspect the water line itself could be used as the linkage. I've been thinking a lot about how to create low-cost water lines and I think one possible answer is to use bamboo for structure, but run water through it inside of PVC. I don't like to use plastic but using it for cold water only (in a light-colored bamboo? or painted/bleached white) is not terribly offensive, and for long runs the cost difference can be enormous.