Saving rainwater illegal in Washington State?

[n2doc]

Saving rain: How much is too much?
Collecting large amount runs afoul of 'archaic' law

By JENNIFER LANGSTON
P-I REPORTER

On a nonprofit Woodinville farm devoted to sustainable practices, rain hits a green shed roof covered in a carpet of herbs and moss.

Drops run down a chain into four weathered barrels, draining to a small pond ringed by cherry trees, huckleberry bushes and native plants.

It's a system the 21 Acres farm wants to create on a much grander scale when it breaks ground next year on an agricultural center with farm stalls, classrooms and test kitchens. The new addition could store 150,000 gallons of rain to irrigate dozens of adjacent garden plots, currently sucking up expensive city water.

There's just one problem.

It almost certainly would violate state water law. And if one wanted to be persnickety, so might the rain barrels cities encourage conservation-minded homeowners to buy.

"We're all promoting it, it's the right thing to do, it makes sense, but it's illegal," said Vince Carlson, a meadmaker and architect for 21 Acres. "Nobody says anything, and we're all kind of hush-hush about it."

more:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/371529_rain21.html

[NightWatcher]

1. is there anything about catching "too much sun"? I'm about to go solar

I bet they will do something when they see that more and more people are taking the "free power" route. Criminals will begin setting up clandestine solar farms in the future if that is the case.

[SpiralHawk]

2. OMG - do the republicons think they own the rain, too?

Next thing you know "drowned governments" in the Republicon State of Totalitarian Mind will be charging the proles for rationed gulps of clean air.

Chief Seattle's Thoughts

How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us.

If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?

[phantom power]

3. It's not a GOP thing. It's a watershed thing.

States and nations regularly argue about who gets to use what water in a watershed. A state has to allow a certain amount of water passing through its domain to continue downstream for use by others. This is just extending the idea of "watershed" to where it truly begins: everywhere that rain falls.

"we're all upstream!"

[aspergris]

4. What do republicans have to do with this?

WA state is overwhelmingly democratic.

Fwiw, WA state tends to pass some really stupid nanny'ish laws.

This is the state that made online gambling a C felony for pete's sake.

Perfectly fine to pay exorbitant rake at a casino, where the state gets their cut, though

[Warpy]

5. The minor amount of runoff that rain barrels collect

isn't the problem. It's the mosquitoes that breed in stagnant water.

Barrels should have their tops screened to prevent mosquitoes from getting in and matured mosquito larvae from getting out.

If the rainwater is diverted to water features, then those water features need some fish to eat the mosquito larvae, something that works beautifully.

If such systems violate state law, then clearly state law needs to be rewritten.

[Kali]

6. In Arizona you can collect rainwater off your roof or pavement, but

once it hits ANY kind/size of natural channel it belongs to the state and you must get a permit to dam it. You can slow it to prevent erosion but if you retain it for any length of time you are in violation.