From The Denver Post (Joey Bunch):
Republicans want to make sure rain barrels don’t put a crack in state water law and ensure that those with the [most senior] water rights get their [water in priority].
Rep. Jessie Danielson, a Democrat from Arvada, said the House bill she’s sponsoring is about clarifying the law, which might encourage more people to use rain barrels. The measure has passed the state House and is headed to the Senate.
“Even if we can conserve the smallest amount of water, it is less treated drinking water being poured out onto our lawns,” Danielson said…
Proving that use of a rain-barrel is causing harm to a water right in court could be a tough job, said Bill Paddock, one of Colorado’s top water lawyers.
To start, someone would have to figure out how many rain barrels are being used in a watershed that feeds downstream water rights. Since there’s no requirement to register them, even in the proposed legislation, analyzing any harm done to holders of water claims would mean checking downspouts door to door to get a count.
Then there would need to be a measurement of how much water each barrel stored. Then the analysis would have to show how much, if any, of that water would have made it back to the river, Paddock said.
“It’s really a question of whether the water that runs off your roof and into a rain barrel and onto a garden is injuring someone else’s water right,” he said.
