by Jane Palmer on 10/10/08 at 9:59 am
Rain. Just because it falls on your roof doesn’t mean it’s yours. At least not in Colorado or Utah.
In these states, citizens or businesses that attempt to collect or store rainwater are in fact breaking the law. The overriding rule here is that of prior appropriation i.e. in order to have any rights to water you have to gain a state water right.
However, in the drought plagued, over appropriated Western states, most of the water is already spoken for, which can make securing a water right complicated, if not impossible.
Although, in the context of history, the reasoning behind such legislature makes sense, it creates an irritating hurdle to conservation minded citizens who merely wish to optimize the use of water resources.
The laws are in place to ensure that those who have a legal right to water will receive their full share of the water appropriated to them. However, this legislation can result in a waste of valuable water resources in states where water is often a scarcity. In certain areas, much of the water that falls on rural residents’ property rarely makes it to the local rivers. A recent hydrological study found that in the undeveloped areas of Douglas County, Colorado, only a small proportion of the precipitation that falls on the undeveloped areas ever makes it to the streams.
In addition, advocates of water harvesting argue that allowing residents to collect rainwater that falls on their properties would reduce reliance on standard water supplies, alleviating the economic burden on public utilities budgets. In other states, such as Texas, the practice of water harvesting is fully supported, and residential rainwater collection systems have been subsidized.
In recognition of the potential advantages of water harvesting, state legislators in Utah and Colorado are working on new laws that would allow water collection of rain water runoff, on a small scale, without having to secure a water right. Although the logistics are extremely complex, in Colorado so many groups have a vested interest in the over appropriated water resources, legislators believe that rural residents will be legally able to harvest water next year.
The next step will then be to allow the same opportunities for residents in the cities. In Washington, another state that normally requires use of a state water right to capture water, the city of Seattle now has a master water permit allowing residents to collect some rainwater. In Colorado and Utah, some city officials believe that a similar system would be of benefit to them too.
Says Jeff Niermeyer, Salt Lake City’s public utilities director, in an interview with the High Country News; “The advantage to the city is that we can then take some demand off our system. That means we won’t have to develop other (water) sources as soon.”
Resource:
High Country News: “A good idea – if you can get away with it” by Peter Friederici
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