Colorado has the most screwed up water rights laws of any state in the Union. Some call them unique, I call them inadequate and based on a concept of when the state was young and had relatively few inhabitants. The process of acquiring water rights is very expensive, complicated, inefficient and bureaucratic. Colorado water officials have already put too many straws into the glass of coke and not everyone is getting anything to drink. This will get worse unless things change. OK … so, what in the world does this have to do with rainwater harvesting and collection in Colorado?

Rainwater harvesting or collecting is the process of storing rainwater that lands on your roof in large containers, usually barrels with a spigot for a hose attachment. The easiest way to do this is to position the barrel under a gutter down spout so the water fills the rain barrel. When time comes to water the plants, instead of using the main water from your house, the water in the rain barrels can be used. This can reduce the amount of water you use and could potentially lower your water bill (depending on how you are billed). Rainwater harvesting is legal in 49 states. So who’s the black sheep?

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