Utahns harvest the rain

SALT LAKE CITY — A number of Utahns across the state have signed up to legally do what many of their grandparents did decades ago: harvest rainwater.

With this year's passage of a bill sponsored by Sen. Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, Utah joined a growing movement across the country and the globe to collect rainwater for use on lawns and gardens.

Under the measure, residents can collect the water in a 2,500-gallon underground tank or have two containers limited to 100 gallons each. Registration with the state Division of Water Rights is required.

While it may seem silly to some to have to make the practice "legal" when rain falls free from the sky, when it comes to water — and who owns what — it's a complicated and passionate topic.

"Rain is our water supply," said Utah's assistant state engineer, Boyd Clayton. "The statute says that the waters of Utah are the property of the public. It is the state engineer's job to appropriate that water as people come forward and want to put it to beneficial use. The law says if you want to appropriate any of that water, that person has to file an application for a water right with the state engineer."

Utah policymakers could see that such a process for something as simple as collecting minimal amounts of rainwater was overly cumbersome, so they tweaked the law.

Salt Lake residents Trey and Erin Bean are among those who took the state up on its offer and signed up to harvest, a process she said took her husband a quick five minutes on the Internet.

They bought a 50-gallon barrel and put it out just in time for June's plentiful rainfall.

"We got an entire 50 gallons of rainwater. It was just magical because it all just dripped off our roof."

She said they use the water for their garden of tomatoes, herbs and squash.

"And we're just barely getting to the bottom of the barrel," she said. "And now we're praying for rain."

Erin Bean said the practice simply makes sense to her.

"Our water bills are always high in the summer, and that is 50 gallons of city water that we have not had to use."

From a conservation standpoint, collecting rainwater is "just an easy thing to do. You don't have to think about it. You set it up once and it takes care of itself," she said.

The simplicity of rainwater harvesting has made the practice spike in popularity. According to HarvestH2O.com, Australia mandates rainwater collection, and some states, such as North Carolina, offer a tax credit for people who purchase a rainwater catchment system.

Erin Bean's experience with the 50-gallon barrel has her thinking more ambitiously, eyeing the possibility of someday branching out to a bigger collection system.

"This is water that would just run off our roof into the gutters ... this way, it's being put to use."

The state's website is www.waterrights.utah.gov.

e-mail: amyjoi@desnews.com