greg-cws
10-23-2008, 05:27 PM
Free as the rain? Don't bet on it; collecting wet bounty may be illegal
By Patty Henetz
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Launched: 10/22/2008 12:06:45 AM MDT
Don't listen to grandma when she tells you to wash your hair in rainwater to make it shiny - it's illegal to roll out the rain barrel.
Utah's law, established during the 1930s, says that all water in the state - above, below or on the ground - is public property. No one can just take that water unless the state engineer approves the appropriation.
While water officials aren't likely to ding you if you run your downspout into a bucket, you still would be an outlaw. That's why state Sen. Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, hopes the Legislature adopts a bill he's crafting for the 2009 session in January.
"Everybody's into moderation and cutting back. We're all a little green, even guys who don't believe in global warming," Jenkins said. "If you've got less than 10 acres, you ought to be able to harvest your rainwater."
Salt Lake City officials, led by Mayor Ralph Becker, seem to agree in principle - at least for those who want to build environmentally friendly buildings worthy of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification, which generally requires some kind of water reuse or harvest.
Toyota dealer Mark Miller decided to shoot for LEED certification for his new dealership building and already had installed an 8,000-gallon cistern to catch water off the roof when he inadvertently bumped into the state law.
"It's an admirable plan,"
Assistant State Engineer Kent Jones said. "The problem with that, historically, [is] where has that water gone?"
Mostly, rainwater has gone to rivers and to recharge groundwater. Allocations went to the valley's first white farmers. Since then, as agricultural rights converted to municipal, the Salt Lake Valley has morphed from the best farming region in Utah to its urban center, replete with concrete and asphalt, driveways and patios that have disrupted flows in immeasurable ways.
"Just with growth, we interfere with the natural process of that water reaching the river," Jones said. Even using a downspout to divert water away from a building's foundation and onto the lawn, he said, could technically violate the law.
Messing with water law usually brings trouble. If the statute were changed so that individual homeowners, say, could collect rainwater without a dedicated water right, farmers would complain because the valley is closed to new water allocations. Allowing city folk to harvest rainwater without a water right would be like letting them move into an apartment without paying rent.
Jeff Niermeyer, Salt Lake City's public-utilities deputy director, said the city is negotiating with the state for some solution to Miller's problem.
More broadly, the city also is seeking approval from the state engineer to give up some of its municipal water rights to capture rainwater. If approved, the city would have about 611 million gallons a year it could hand out incrementally to LEED builders.
If people insisted on harvesting rainwater under the radar, Niermeyer said, "I'd never know about it, and the state would never know it."
But remember: Just because it falls from the sky doesn't mean rain is clean, especially during the first storm after a dry spell, when rain is mixed with dust and all kinds of nasty stuff including lead and mercury.
"Except under dire circumstances," Niermeyer said, "I would not recommend to anybody to harvest rainwater for drinking."
phenetz@sltrib.com
By Patty Henetz
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Launched: 10/22/2008 12:06:45 AM MDT
Don't listen to grandma when she tells you to wash your hair in rainwater to make it shiny - it's illegal to roll out the rain barrel.
Utah's law, established during the 1930s, says that all water in the state - above, below or on the ground - is public property. No one can just take that water unless the state engineer approves the appropriation.
While water officials aren't likely to ding you if you run your downspout into a bucket, you still would be an outlaw. That's why state Sen. Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, hopes the Legislature adopts a bill he's crafting for the 2009 session in January.
"Everybody's into moderation and cutting back. We're all a little green, even guys who don't believe in global warming," Jenkins said. "If you've got less than 10 acres, you ought to be able to harvest your rainwater."
Salt Lake City officials, led by Mayor Ralph Becker, seem to agree in principle - at least for those who want to build environmentally friendly buildings worthy of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification, which generally requires some kind of water reuse or harvest.
Toyota dealer Mark Miller decided to shoot for LEED certification for his new dealership building and already had installed an 8,000-gallon cistern to catch water off the roof when he inadvertently bumped into the state law.
"It's an admirable plan,"
Assistant State Engineer Kent Jones said. "The problem with that, historically, [is] where has that water gone?"
Mostly, rainwater has gone to rivers and to recharge groundwater. Allocations went to the valley's first white farmers. Since then, as agricultural rights converted to municipal, the Salt Lake Valley has morphed from the best farming region in Utah to its urban center, replete with concrete and asphalt, driveways and patios that have disrupted flows in immeasurable ways.
"Just with growth, we interfere with the natural process of that water reaching the river," Jones said. Even using a downspout to divert water away from a building's foundation and onto the lawn, he said, could technically violate the law.
Messing with water law usually brings trouble. If the statute were changed so that individual homeowners, say, could collect rainwater without a dedicated water right, farmers would complain because the valley is closed to new water allocations. Allowing city folk to harvest rainwater without a water right would be like letting them move into an apartment without paying rent.
Jeff Niermeyer, Salt Lake City's public-utilities deputy director, said the city is negotiating with the state for some solution to Miller's problem.
More broadly, the city also is seeking approval from the state engineer to give up some of its municipal water rights to capture rainwater. If approved, the city would have about 611 million gallons a year it could hand out incrementally to LEED builders.
If people insisted on harvesting rainwater under the radar, Niermeyer said, "I'd never know about it, and the state would never know it."
But remember: Just because it falls from the sky doesn't mean rain is clean, especially during the first storm after a dry spell, when rain is mixed with dust and all kinds of nasty stuff including lead and mercury.
"Except under dire circumstances," Niermeyer said, "I would not recommend to anybody to harvest rainwater for drinking."
phenetz@sltrib.com