It's illegal to collect and store rainwater on your property in Colorado? (Pueblo: casinos, gated communities)

[treedonkey]

Unbelievable. TERRIFIED indeed.

Favorite quote from that vid: '...their water supply is contaminated with natural gas , which is not only dangerous, but also highly flammable.'

Where do these newscasters learn how to speak?

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by treedonkey

Unbelievable. TERRIFIED indeed.

Favorite quote from that vid: '...their water supply is contaminated with natural gas , which is not only dangerous, but also highly flammable.'

Where do these newscasters learn how to speak?

Unfortunately, this is not the first time this has happened in that area. I remember a story some years back about a fellow up in Weld County somewhere who made the mistake of lighting up a cigarette while sitting on the john and dropping the lit match down in the bowl. Collected methane (not his) in the bowl exploded with less than pleasant results.

[Sockeye]

One must never smoke whilst defecating. Then again, why would anyone?

[Josseppie]

why would anyone want to collect water from their house. Given our dry climate how much would anyone get..... I agree with jazz on this one....

[bullfish15]

Well, I guess when you need 75,000 gallons of water a month to water your flower garden you would think a few rain barrels is nothing but small potatoes.

[Josseppie]

You mean someone in here uses more water then I do lol I am gald I am no longer the person who holds that title!

[zenkonami]

So let me get this straight. I hope my numbers are accurate here and all are welcome to check them. My caveat would be that these are averages and clearly do not take into account Colorado's numerous microclimates, differences in population density, location relative to ground water sources (including rivers, streams and diversion routes), area of agricultural land or how relevant (or not relevant mostly) that rainfall is directly over that agricultural land (i.e., not accounting for the direct effect of rainfall on soil as compared to rainfall entering the irrigation system.) This is not a scientific analysis, but a rough one over the numbers.

If we allotted one 52 gallon barrel (reservoir) per *person* in the state (man, woman and child), multiplied by the state's population (4,939,456 people), you would be taking just under 256 million (256,851,712) gallons out of the system as delivered by precipitation.

Colorado's average annual rainfall is around 15.31 inches (measured as amount of rain fallen on a square foot of area) which translates to (again on average) about 9.4922 gallons per square foot.

The total area of Colorado is approx. 550 million (550,096,800) square feet.

This makes the total amount of rainfall in Colorado over 5 billion (5,221,628,844.96) gallons over the course of a year. Sounds like a lot, but compared to other states is fairly small given the area of the state and the amount of agricultural land.

This means that one 52 gallon barrel reservoir per person in the state would remove just under 5% of the state's annual precipitation from the water system...BUT, if this water was then put toward local gardening or property irrigation, could then be subtracted from the amount of water consumed via other sources (utilities.)

5% is a considerable number, however unless every single person proceeds to horde their 52 gallon barrel of water, that water is inevitably returned to the very soil, rocks and drainage systems it was destined to hit anyway, having been diverted for local use. The difference is that now the user is not *paying* a third party (the rights holder) for that water, nor is that water being transported from another diversion source to accommodate someone's lawn. (Yes, I know 52 gallons would scarcely water an herb garden, never mind a lawn.)

If such a system were permitted where any overflow from the 52 gallons had to be channeled to it's point of natural drainage, and if instead of one gallon per person the law allowed one gallon per household, the number dives down dramatically (by at least 20%, and that's not taking into account apartment dwellers) putting the amount of water extracted from the system at less than 4%.

I understand why Colorado has the laws it has, and I will admit I need to do further research on those laws to fully understand the costs and benefits of that system. It does, however, seem like an arcane and out of date system at a glance, particularly in regards to personal water use. Take these numbers with the appropriate grain of salt. Feel free to pick apart my math...never was very good at math ^_^ Just providing food for thought. I don't think it would be a bad idea to grant Coloradans limited access to rain as a potential gray water source for gardening, etc...particularly for xeriscaping.

Oh, and one curiosity. What about the rain that collects in outdoor swimming pools?

[livecontent]

I do not understand this whole discussion. Most of the time, you could not catch a significant amount of water on your property. What would you catch from your roof would be so little that it would evaporate before you could use it. You would not catch it over ground because you would have something growing that needs the little it could get. The little water you catch would be a breeding areas for mosquitoes, mold, bacteria, which would not be good.

Back east, my grandfather caught water runoff but that is not this arid area and his water would have to be dumped periodically because it would smell and have mosquito larvae.

Of course if you had a running stream through your property then it makes sense for the state to maintain control so you do not hoard more than necessary. But catching water??? You got to be joking. It would make more sense to not flush your toilet with every pee--for a old man with prostrate problems, like me--that would save much. Or, better yet, pee on your bushes.

I only use 2-3 thousand gallons every 60 days. How can anybody use 75,000-250,000 gallons of water on a residential property. That is the real problem--that evasive weed--blue grass.

Livecontent

[reginhild]

Out of all our rainfall here, I'd bet 50% of it evaporates back into the sky. (Just a guess based on low humidity semi-arid climate)

[Scott5280]

That water is desperately needed for the golf courses in Palm Springs,Vegas,Phoenix,..they need to keep the fountains going in front of the casinos and high end gated communities of Arizona,California..Several years ago I was out in one of those desert communities where a guy was hosing his driveway off in 105 degree heat;I asked him about the water restrictions in the area..he gave me a puzzled look and then responded" water restrictions"? So why your community here on the front range is on critical lock down water restrictions--your friends in California can fill their pools and play with their new water weasel.