In today’s world, most of us have been encouraged to conserve every drop of water. Most of us, that is, outside of the states of Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. For hundreds of years, homeowners in these “four corner” states have been forbidden to collect the rain that falls onto their rooftops. Finally, this week, new legislation has been passed allowing people in Colorado to collect rainwater legally.
The legislation forbidding rain barrels originated back in the 1800s. Ownership of water rights was separated from land ownership, meaning that homeowners had no right to the rain that fell on their own homes. As a result, most of the water that fell in the area wound up going nowhere. According to an article in the New York Times:
“A study in 2007 proved crucial to convincing Colorado lawmakers that rain catching would not rob water owners of their rights. It found that in an average year, 97 percent of the precipitation that fell in Douglas County, near Denver, never got anywhere near a stream. The water evaporated or was used by plants.”
Now, outlaw water collectors are moving their illegal rain barrels out of the shadow and into the light. As aquifers and rivers in the western United States dry up, rainwater may point the way to a wetter tomorrow.
Photo courtesy of StockXChange.