Farmers in Portugal have similar problems.
All of them collect rainwater for the hot season.
Now they protect their cistern against helicopters !!
Last year during the forest fires the pilots stole first all the water they found near the fires....
Of course the famers recieved no compensation and many lost their crop.
The farmers construct real anti-air protection !
Ralf

This is news? These water rights laws have been on the books for western US states for decades - long since any of us reading this were born. It's not just a Utah thing, but it's the same in Colorado and New Mexico. Probably Kansas and Arizona too, I would guess, but IANAL.

Ms. Mok, for what it's worth, it's not only illegal to harvest rainwater on a large scale, but also illegal on a small scale. Rain barrels, which are popular in the wet parts of the country (and maybe even water-rich Montreal) and outside the US, are technically illegal here in Colorado.

This is yet another clue that WE THE PEOPLE need to put an end to stuff like this. Who decides who owns the water that nature provides? This person spent money and paid taxes to help reduce the water use, and the government says that it's aginst the law? What do they want? The people down stream that have water rights? Meaning the people who have money and collect money from everyone who pays the water bill. I understand that there are costs to provide water for modern plumbing and that justifies the water bill, but I do not understand this. This guy is doing something to help reduce the energy usage, ie all the energy used to treat the water from the faucet, and gets a hassle for it. I suspect that they chose to inforce an old law because this business would be paying a lot less for it's water bill, thus decresing the city's revenue. We can't take money away from the government. What they failed to see is that he also reduces the need for spending the money to treat the water so they do not need that money anyway.
The government failed again, can this be true? No way they are the government they are right all the time. Too many people think that or have given up because they, we all have allowed the government to get too big. I invite everyone to read the decleration of independance and compair what was happening then to what is happening now. In a lot of ways now is worse, yet we just do nothing.
It's time to fix it.

Get ready for more of the same - just better

>> Is there a private water-bottling company downstream?

No. Mexico's downstream and they'd like their water. The US and Mexico have a treaty that regulates the volume and quality of the Colorado River. The 7 states in the Colorado River basin all have state-level laws that regulate rainfall and run off.

This is simple water rights, this not a ground breaking change in law on the restriction of water harvesting. Different areas have different styles of water rights but all states have water right laws/clauses/rules.

I think it would be beneficial for states to pass laws which would explicitly legalize and govern home based collection and use of rainwater on a limited scale -- ie legally allow an at-home rainwater collection reservoir of no larger than XX gallons, with applicable exceptions for extraordinary conditions.

In many rain/water plentiful states that XX value could be low triple digits but I would think the more arid states would limit home collection reservoir to a standard 55 gallon drum.

These laws were written to stop harvesting surface water. Think wing dams in arroyos, not rain barrels off rooftops. The laws need revising to reflect different times. This project at the car dealer will likely result in the laws being rewritten.

I think the government should control the air we breathe too. The also need to control fart emissions. If I fart upwind, that affects someone's breathing downwind.

I believe that this is a completely stupid statement made by the Utah government. Who on this earth thinks that they can tell other people to not save precious rainwater? Not like the entire city is taking every single drop for itself now is it? It's a good thing I got outta Utah when I did lol.

Unbelievable. What's next air? Are we going to be told we don't have air rights?

Is rainwater lost as it becomes stormwater runoff? Also, doesn't the rainwater harvested and used in the garden recharge groundwater (as opposed to flowing into a storm drain)?

You sure can tell who doesn't live in the western US (or is a complete metrophile if they do by the comments)...DB

You sure can tell who doesn't live in the western US (or is a complete metrophile if they do) by the comments)...DB

Un-freakin-believable! If you live in a dry place, why would you NOT collect rainwater?

I am reading this from the driest capitol city in the driest continent on the planet. Adelaide, South Australia. If we did not have rainwater tanks we would not be able to sustain any fruit and vegetable garden. We live in an urban area just a few kilometres (approx 3 miles) from the city centre and because we collect the rainwater off our house and garage we sustain 2 citrus trees, an apricot tree, an almond tree, a bay laurel tree, tomatoes, capsicum (bell peppers), potatoes, lettuces, garlic, chives and a variety of herbs. Some years we grow winter crops of brocolli and kale. Alternate years we put in some zucchini or beans or pumpkin. Not a huge amount, but more than the two of us can eat. We always have some to share with friends or to cook up and preserve. As well, we use the rainwater to sustain some decorative plants, however we favour the drought-tolerant varieties that suit the 'mediterranean' climate zone we live in.

Sure, the rain that hits the ground replenishes the water table, but what runs off the house and garage would otherwise be directed to the storm water and run out to the Gulf. That is wasted in my book.

That's what you get for living in the middle of a desert: people getting uptight about water. Move to Michigan!

Dan Brockman writes: "You sure can tell who doesn't live in the western US by the comments."

Yes, you sure can, Dan. I was amused to read some of the over-caffeinated comments on the original article, and surprised that so many people are so ignorant of water rights.

For those Treehuggers who are unfamiliar with the issues of water use in the western US, there is a LOT of info on the web that'll bring you up to speed. I encourage you to start by reading up on the Colorado River Compact:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_River_Compact

Ok, it seems time to amend the old laws. Allow homeowners to capture rainwater as long as their property is xeriscaped. The car dealer was actually reducing losses for the municipal water supply and therefore should be granted license to continue to do so. Just create a standard based on square footage under collection and allow some flexibility for future innovations. It could actually take pressure off of the water infrastructure because sudden downpours over concrete and asphalt allows greater runoff than natural landscapes, possibly even overwhelming antiquated systems. And the city uses less potable water where non-potable may be called for.

The reason this is a profondly retarded law, is that rainwater harvesting does NOT reduce the water level from the river. If the people did NOT harvest rainwater, they would have to use water from the tap instead ! Where does that water come from? You guessed right....from the river.

Tell them what you think:

http://www.utah.gov/contactform.html

this is stupid... those idiot officials should be impaled...

The resurgence of the water wars.

In AZ the right to water generally refers to damming or redirecting surface water. At least that's what I gathered from the policy I read. No mention of rainwater harvesting.

In response to the questions about rainwater recharging groundwater... depends on what you mean by groundwater. A typical rain event will not recharge an aquifer... but a lot of gathered rainwater directed into the aquifer will. The water that hits my yard and drains off into the curb, and the storm water that remains on my property (or that I can gather into basins) will NOT recharge groundwater any deeper than for a tree or other vegetation.

Storm runoff, in most cases, is routed through the municipal system where it is cleaned (chemicals, fossil fuel residue from streets, etc.) and then PERHAPS redirected to greywater use, to an aquifer, or perhaps into the muni system (I haven't gotten a straight answer about the muni system where I'm at), or to a reservoir.

Would appear that gathering rainwater and using it at home would reduce wasted water, use of chemicals to clean storm runoff, and reduce the money spent to build giant wastewater treatment plants to clean the water once it travels off a property and onto a polluted street/storm drain.

Generally, storm runoff overwhelms a municipal system... and treatment plants can do with a lot less of it.

So yes, we are wasting a scarce thing that is necessary for us to live. Even in Arizona.

This is silly ... the last time I looked, whether you are up stream or down stream you would not be effected by someone collecting rain water as rain falls down from the sky. If I am collecting rain water that falls from the sky, then so can you. I am not damming or stopping the water once it has landing on the ground, but capturing it before it does that. This world is going to go to hell in a hand basket if laws and thinking like this do not change. We the people can try all we want, but if laws from 100 years ago are still in place, then you are trapped.

I'm a little confused about this, so one of you western state people fill me in.

I thought water rights applied to surface streams/rivers/pond/lakes, as well as the aquifer below.

Rain falling from the sky is not yet part of any of those.

Interrupting the rain's path into the ground so that it can be used to water the plants on the same ground, simply at a different time, does not seem to violate those laws. The downstream recipient still gets his water.

I would understand if someone were harvesting the rain water and then transporting it somewhere else, but this car dealer is not doing that. Nor is the home gardener.

Can someone clue me in?

There are already patents on seeds, so I guess it's only logical that there will be deeds on rainwater...

Coming Up: Quotas for oxygen per person\animal and solar radiaton per house.

People wake up - this is just the outworking of all the UN treaties to bnring the planet under one global govt.

He who controls water, controls you.

If you want your life back, get your water back.