A bill to legalize personal rain barrels, HB15-1259, is making its way through the Colorado State House.  Yes, you read that correctly.  In Colorado, it is illegal to collect rain in rain barrels on your property. In fact, Colorado is the only state in which it is illegal to collect rainwater. While most people have indoor plumbing (we think) and could certainly use a hose to water plants, the bill would allow each person to collect rainwater in two 50 gallon barrels.  9News estimates that a person could capture about 600 gallons of water each year to “irrigate plants” on their property.

It’s truly unbelievable that we’re even talking about this.  This might just be the dumbest law in Colorado, unless the state has at some point outlawed any of the following activities on one’s personal property.

• Sunbathing for more than your share of sunlight (300 days of sunshine!)
• Opening windows for gentle breezes to waft through one’s home
• Shoveling snow – wait….
• Gazing at the stars for longer than one’s allotted time

And the list could go on.  While the basis of the original law is water rights, it seems excessive to impose such restrictions on average joes, but, then again, most people in our neighborhood just use hoses.