The Denver Post reports that the Colorado Senate Agriculture, Natural Resources and Energy Committee passed a bill this week to legalize the use of rain barrels for the household collection of rainwater.

Colorado is the only state in the country where it is illegal to capture rainwater for use at a later time. State lawmakers have debated whether to allow residents to use rain barrels to collect precipitation falling from their roofs. In addition to allowing the collection of up to 110 gallons each year, one goal of the bill is to educate the public about water conservation.

Critics of the bill, HB 1005, argue rain barrel collectors must recognize Colorado water rights law, or the prior-appropriation system which considers the scarcity of the water supply. Some also want the office of the state engineer to oversee the program and stop it in times of drought.

The Pueblo Chieftain cites water law experts that contend rain barrels are only technically illegal because proving they injure the water rights of other users is not possible. A Colorado State University analysis indicated nearly all of the water would be absorbed in the ground by the downspout or in the ground in the garden,

However, opponents disagree with this analysis.  Jim Yahn, an engineer managing the Sterling and Prewitt Reservoirs in northeastern Colorado, told radio station KVNF that rain stored in barrels would not necessarily be absorbed in a person’s yard and contends rain barrels prevent some water from flowing out of the yard and to other water users. “Downstream of Denver there’s 200 miles of river. We’re not anti-rain barrel. We’re anti the misuse of the prior-appropriation system,” said Yahn.

The bill now moves to the Colorado Senate for discussion.

A copy of HB 1005 is available here.