As of July 01, 2009 a new law, Senate Bill 09-080, which was passed by the General Assembly and signed by the Governor during the 2009 legislative session, allows limited collection and use of precipitation for landowners, only if:
1. The property on which the collection takes place is residential property, and
2. The landowner uses a well, or is legally entitled to a well, for the water supply, and
3. The well is permitted for domestic uses according to Section 37-92-602, C.R.S.,
(generally, this means the permit number will be five or six digits with no â-Fâ suffix at the
end), and
4. There is no water supply available in the area from a municipality or water district, and
5. The rainwater is collected only from the roof, and
6. The water is used only for those uses that are allowed by, and identified on, the well
permit.
If you intend to use a system for rooftop precipitation capture you will need to complete form GWS-78
The Colorado Division of Water Resources has posted a pdf with more information that we have included here….Rain Water Bill for your convenience. We recommend that with this Bill being so new to check their web page frequently for updates and the new forms that are required.
If you need to locate your well permit to verify if it complies with the new law you can do that on the Colorado Well View Web page. If you find that your well was not transferred into your name when you purchased the property you should fill out the Change of Well Ownership form right away.
Be sure to check for updated forms on the States Colorado Division of Water Resources website forms page also.
We personally never understood the old law making it illegal to collect your rainwater from your roof so this is a major step for the State of Colorado to allow any rainwater collection and we applaud the State for stepping into the 21st Century by allowing this even if it is on a limited basis.
What is really awesome is that you can also elect not to drill a water well and just use your rainwater for limited uses without actually drilling a water well. We have known people in other states that have been able to supply most, if not all, of their household water needs by collecting their rainwater.
We hope this helps you. Thanks to Dave for bringing this to our attention in his recent comment on this post http://blog.adobegold.com/blog/in-colorado-you-can-not-collect-rain-water/
Charlie
Adobe Gold Properties
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Thanks for your detailed research and quick update to your post. It sounds like this will be applicable and beneficial to many of the residents in your area.