The state that bears the same name as the river that provides water for much of the western United States is also the last state in the country to ban the use of residential water barrels.
"Despite passing out of the Colorado House with bipartisan support, the popular legislation legalizing residential use of rain barrels in Colorado is currently being held hostage by Senate Agriculture, Natural Resources and Energy Committee Chairman, Jerry Sonnenberg," reports Alexander Funk. "With only days left in the Colorado legislative session, the fate of the bill remains unclear."
The rain barrel ban in Colorado is the last of its kind in the country. According to Funk, "[o]pponents of the bill argue that allowing rain barrels would initiate a “sea change” in western water law and harm irrigators, but there is little evidence supporting these claims." The rest of the article is devoted to an appeal for the Colorado State Senate, led by Senate President Bill Cadman, to show leadership on the issue by passing the bill to repeal the ban.
Past coverage of the bill and the issue includes work by Joey Bunch for The Denver Post, Jeff Guo for The Washington Post, and the Associated Press.
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