{"id":3230,"date":"2009-07-16T05:00:33","date_gmt":"2009-07-16T12:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blitransfer.wpengine.com\/?p=3230"},"modified":"2017-06-21T14:22:53","modified_gmt":"2017-06-21T19:22:53","slug":"rainwater-collection-legal-colorado-illegal-utah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelivingideas.com\/2009\/07\/16\/rainwater-collection-legal-colorado-illegal-utah\/","title":{"rendered":"Rainwater Collection Now Legal for Some in Colorado; Still Illegal in Utah"},"content":{"rendered":"

It seems insane to think that it would be illegal to have a rain barrel<\/a> and practice rainwater collection, but that’s exactly what two new laws in Colorado have changed.\u00c2\u00a0 Coloradans have broken the law to collect the water drops that fall from the sky because technically they do not own them.\u00c2\u00a0 Durango resident Tom Bartels<\/a> explains, “I was so willing to go to jail for catching water on my roof and watering my garden, but now I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not a criminal.”\u00c2\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Photo by ravik694<\/a>\"Rainwater<\/a>
Rainwater collection laws vary by state<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It’s hard to think of someone as criminal for collecting precipitation, but many western states closely guard water rights, including water that falls from the sky.\u00c2\u00a0 The New York Times<\/a><\/em> explains:<\/p>\n

Precipitation, every last drop or flake, was assigned ownership from the moment it fell in many Western states, making scofflaws of people who scooped rainfall from their own gutters. In some instances, the rights to that water were assigned a century or more ago.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The concern is that collected rainwater will never reach creeks and streams, but a 2007 study found that 97% of precipitation<\/a> never naturally reached waterways due to evaporation and plant use thus convincing lawmakers rainwater collection should be legal, well at least for some residents.\u00c2\u00a0 Two new laws in Colorado make it legal for some residents to collect rainwater if they have an “exempt well”.\u00c2\u00a0 The Rainwater Observer<\/a> reports:<\/p>\n

The bill will limit the catchments to properties served by an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153exempt well,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that is, a well that is allowed to pump regardless of priority because the amount of water produced is so small that it is assumed that no senior rights holder will be harmed.\u00c2\u00a0 While this bill would be a step forward for those who support rainwater harvesting, it would not apply to urban residents since these \u00e2\u20ac\u0153exempt wells\u00e2\u20ac\u009d are not common in the urban landscape.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Rainwater collecting Coloradans need to apply for a permit and must not use the water for irrigating more than an acre of land.\u00c2\u00a0 To be eligible for a permit, you must live outside of a municipal water district and qualify or already have a well<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 The other new Colorado rainwater law establishes urban pilot studies for collection.<\/p>\n

For residents of rural Colorado, it is a start, but rainwater collection is still illegal in Utah.\u00c2\u00a0 Laws vary greatly across the arid West.\u00c2\u00a0 The New York Times<\/a><\/em> expounds:<\/p>\n

Just 75 miles west of here, in Utah, collecting rainwater from the roof is still illegal unless the roof owner also owns water rights on the ground; the same rigid rules, with a few local exceptions, also apply in Washington State. Meanwhile, 20 miles south of here, in New Mexico, rainwater catchment, as the collecting is called, is mandatory for new dwellings in some places like Santa Fe.\u00c2\u00a0 And in Arizona, cities like Tucson are pioneering the practices of big-city rain capture.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Utah’s SB 128<\/a> could change that by allowing residents to store up to 2,500 gallons of rainwater.\u00c2\u00a0 As the West faces continual drought, residents need to be able to legally seek out alternative sources for fresh water; however, the impact on streams and rivers should be considered.\u00c2\u00a0 According to the Sierra Club<\/a>, rainwater is “often a problem rather than a resource” for municipal communities. Rainwater collection in urban environments could help cities deal with stormwater runoff pollution<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It seems insane to think that it would be illegal to have a rain barrel and practice rainwater collection, but that’s exactly what two new laws in Colorado have changed.\u00c2\u00a0 Coloradans have broken the law to collect the water drops that fall from the sky because technically they do not own them.\u00c2\u00a0 Durango resident Tom […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3231,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[16,22],"tags":[2854,434,1755,1757,1766,1768,1770,2286,2430],"yst_prominent_words":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/bluelivingideas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/rainbarrel.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelivingideas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3230"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelivingideas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelivingideas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelivingideas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelivingideas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelivingideas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelivingideas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelivingideas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelivingideas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelivingideas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3230"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelivingideas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=3230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}