Who Owns the Rain? Bill S32 Grows Local Food With Utah's Water

Utah is the second driest state. Local food is sustained by snowfall and the gradual depletion of underground reservoirs. It can be a rough, tough world when you try to grow your own food. Water for food competes with water for home use and industry, all placed together in a same pot of a dwindling resource.

Water is precious, and homeowners need to do what they can to conserve it. Rainwater harvesting has long been touted as an integral part of this conservation measure. Think of the dustbowl, of families struggling to make ends meet and collecting all of the rainwater they could to drink and to water a small family garden. But for a long time, this simple act was illegal in Utah. For a long time, many US states owned every drop of water that came from a river, a lake, or even from the sky. Those who had rainwater collection barrels to sustain their food gardens without drawing from public water sources were stealing water from the public, or so it was under the law.
They were water renegades, these food gardeners and environmentalists: that is, until Bill 32 transformed the law. Under Senator Scott Jenkins' bill, a person can now capture and store rainwater in one or two above ground or below ground storage containers per parcel of land. In May 2010, this bill became law. It is now legal to collect local rainwater to support local activities, including food gardens.

To legally use a rain barrel in the state of Utah, visit the Division of Water Rights web page and register. You can have one 2500 gallon underground container or two 100 gallon containers above ground on your property.

Will these water hoarders get in the way of the natural flow of water? Well yes, this water won't flow directly into reservoirs or rivers. However, it will be placed on gardens, and from there it will enter the water cycle again. This water will slowly move into the underground water banks or across the surface into a local creek, but it will do this after it has been used to grow food or water lawns. By using water again and again, you don't lose it: you just redirect in a useful way for a short time. All water is part of the water cycle, and it goes back into that cycle again to renew our crops and to sustain thirsty local people.