Missing Rain barrels
Did you know that rain barrels are illegal in Colorado? The staple
of home gardening for centuries is banned in only one state and that one is
ours. How did this come about? Why would keeping rainwater from washing away
into a ditch become stealing?
Most home gardeners know that tap water has been chlorinated,
and is not as good for plants as fresh rainwater. This is why many gardeners
choose to collect rainwater and use it instead of the tap water. It’s fresh and
free, what could be wrong with that? You can even go down to your local
hardware store and they will be happy to sell you everything you need to
collect rainwater and use it to irrigate your garden. So why can I buy all the
equipment to collect, store, and use the rain that falls on my roof, but not
actually use the water I collect?
Over the next few posts I plan on exploring the origins of
why rain barrels are illegal, and find out if any other state bans them. I have
found that almost every law started with a good idea, but sometimes either got
out of control or morphed into something that it was not intended to be. If
this is a good law, there must be some active group that has what they feel are
good reasons to support it. If it is a bad law, than why hasn’t it been
repealed? When you get right down to it, who is it going to hurt if I collect
the limited amount of rain we get here in the Front Range and use it to water
my lawn and my garden, I’m going to water them anyway right? Wouldn’t it be
better if I use it first so that it doesn’t have to be gathered, treated and
sent back to my house? There has to be a better way.
This is something that I never knew would be illegal and it still confuses me as to why it is. The way that you are going about the conversation is very intriguing and is having me want to know more, and that is very good thing to have when blogging. I think that you have a great point as to if the law is something that has become a problem then why hasn't anyone done anything about it? Or is there people doing something about it and they just haven't been recognized for it yet? Also something else that I wonder is how many people are properly informed about this law and how many have no clue that its even a law? I am excited to see where else you go with this and I planned to stay tuned with it.
ReplyDeleteI never knew this was illegal. I live in Arvada and lots of people here have a well. So, is it illegal that my family uses the well to water our plants and garden? Does the law still apply to wells or only rain? Colorado supplies water to other states, states that don't have any water conservation laws. Colorado has tons of laws on water conservation and this being one of them is definitely an issue for me. I wonder why this was started and what their first intension was. I'm not sure if I agree with it or not but I'm definitely interested in your research for this project.
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