July 01, 2008

Catching Water Off Your Roof - 2

As I wrote last December, Colorado law makes catching and storing rainwater off your roof illegal.

A San Miguel County woman who tried to follow the rules got slapped down hard by the Colorado Water Court.

If Kris wanted to collect rainwater for her gardens, she'd have to pursue an augmentation plan and convince the state engineer and water court that she could replace 100 percent of the precipitation captured. Not only did she have to return to the stream every drop of rain she collected, she would have to pay for a complex engineering analysis to prove that her augmentation water would return to the stream in a timeframe mimicking natural conditions.

The rules were made for the big guys. Sometimes you should do what you need to do without involving government,

1 comment:

Beverly said...

Sheeshhh...sometimes I wonder about the cowboy-wannabes who run Colorado.

Thanks for bringing attention to this outdated law, which galled me no end when I lived off grid, and for letting me know of the recent study commissioned by Douglas County and the Colorado Water Conservation Board. Handy information, you rabble-rouser you!!!