Collecting rainwater illegal??

every drop of water on the earth now was on the earth 4 billion years ago when it formed. the drop that fell in your mouth is recycled pee. lol

Their logic is skewed. People who collect rainwater, are only "borrowing" it anyway.

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"Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow the fields of those who don't."-Thomas Jefferson

Sounds rather like Robin Hood's time when you put it that way!

Nah just pee outside and make sure it is downhill. It will get there!

We see it happen every year. Water issues are just part of life here. It's one of the trade-offs to live in the shadows of these big peaks.

Water is owned by the state, by municipalities, by corporations, by farms and ranches, and by individuals. It's big money and big business. It's not uncommon for water rights to be worth more than the land they irrigate. A big ranch here sold off their water rights a few years ago, for millions of dollars to Denver, and then they moved out of the area. Now, it's really showing, and a large portion of our little valley is looking really bad. I can understand wanting that sort of money for yourself, kids and grandkids, but that sale will destroy a lot of the beauty and productivity of this valley forever.

Nestle just bought a nice water right here and is now trucking water to their bottling plant in (I think) Denver. They put in a pipeline from the source to their new facility in a nearby little town. That had lots people upset around here, but what it came down to was the owner of that water had the right to sell it to anyone he wanted to. Others sought to prevent the sale, but it was his to do with as he pleased. I'm sure Nestle paid big for it.

As far as collecting rain water, I've never heard of anyone being jailed or punished for it, and I don't think they actually go looking for offenders (around here, anyway). I supposed if your neighbor squawked about you doing it, someone would look into it.

Water rights out west have been locked up for a very long time. Especially the mining states and mining areas.

Much was bought long ago.

KStornado,

I was told that Colorado had signed over the water rights over to Kansas a long time ago therefore the water that falls in Colorado belongs to Kansas or some such thing. Utterly silly if you ask me.

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Ted H

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I'd just bury my collection tanks out of sight.

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So if your roof leaks and rainwater damages your home can you sue the state because their water damaged your home

They would just prosecute you for allowing your roof to illegally leak and divert their water indoors...

It's my understanding in most places you can use water for drinking and bathing, just nothing else, no matter if you own water rights or not.

You just cannot irrigate or water stock or anything.

Sounds like someone saw money that could be made and made up a law! Now the water is worth a LOT of $$$$$$$!!

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I believe I read that in some areas of Colorado they are doing a program where residents can apply for a rain barrel permit. They plan to record the amount of water collected, etc and see if it actually harms the water table in any way. Obviously, they will see that collected water (often used to irrigate) is going to go back into the water table anyhow. So maybe this will help to open things up down the road for those of us who would like to use rain barrels.

At my place, I can irrigate up to an acre and also water livestock with my well (as well as household use of course). I have 40 acres and can also have two more homes on this land if I want. So far the rain barrel law isn't an issue for me, but it is still annoying. But since we don't get much rain anyhow, I guess it doesn't matter much.

In my county and surrounding counties (not sure about all the rural parts of CO), water rights are for irrigation. Priority is based on age, rather than size of the right. We have an 1894 water right, meaning it was established in 1894. Last week there was a water call to 1885. So, any ditch younger than 1885 gets shut off until that call is over.

We have a domestic well, for all our household and livestock use and can water up to 2 acres from the well. An in-house well, which most all small lots have, is just that, in-house use only. An adjudicated well is an in-house well where the owner has purchased a water share and can water up to 1 acre with that.

I don't know much about that. Isn't it currently just in Boulder?

In our area rain barrels are illegal, but it isn't enforced stringently for JUST a discreet rainbarrel.

What happened was farmers in Kansas depended on the Arkansas river for irrigation, drinking water, etc. Colorado decided to dam it up and use it up here.

Long law suit, Kansas won.

And that is fair. From what I can tell Colorado was being greedy. Think of it this way--suppose St Louis came up with a way to harvest, store, and use all the water in the Mississippi. Think New Orleans might have a legitimate gripe?

A rain barrel is no big deal, but muliply it by enough and you are harvesting significant water. And with the law on the books, should some corporation, ranch, or farm start harvesting significant amounts they can be shut down.

We may someday see restrictions on wind energy. Use enough to drastically alter the flow and you just changed the downwind neighbors weather. If that means no rain so no crop, would that be fair?

That's what happens when laws are stupidly written.

It is fair to prevent people from diverting too much water away from where it would have ended up. If St. Louis use up all the water in the Mississippi, it is not going to end up in the right place (New Orleans).

But the water that falls on my roof would have ended up in the ground in my back yard. If I collect it and irrigate my veggies with it, it still ends up in the ground in my back yard. So I haven't diverted it at all.

Typical case of lawmakers using a sledgehammer to fix a watch.

I have heard that most states have laws against damming an established waterway, which seems fair to those downstream but not being allowed to harvest rainwater that falls on YOUR land seems rediculous.

I believe that in a few places the county officials are demanding a "Water Meter" be put on your OWN PRIVATE WELL. So collecting rain water being illegal does not seem such a stretch after all.

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They also have to fund you if said game attacks your property.

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Sounds like the 19th century version of 'cap and trade'. I'll be taking those states off my list of possible homestead locations.