Rainwater harvesting bill may have tough fight

From the Colorado Springs Gazette:

Water rights battles have raged in Colorado for decades, but a bill being considered at the state Capitol could ease some of the tensions between highly populated urban communities and agriculture-dependent rural areas. House Bill 1129, by Rep. Marsha Looper, R-Calhan, would establish a pilot program to determine whether sophisticated rainwater collection systems can be a sustainable water source without infringing on downstream water rights of farmers and ranchers. Looper said according to projections, Colorado will have 3 million new residents by 2035. By 2030, groundwater supplies will be decreased by 3 billion gallons on the Western Slope and 35 billion gallons on the Front Range. That could mean that water battles will become even fiercer in coming years. Under Looper's bill, the Colorado Water Conservation Board and the State Engineer's Office would be authorized to construct 10 such experimental groundwater collection facilities across the state over the next decade. One of the most common methods, Looper said, is to build a large gutter collection network that funnels rainwater into an underground storage facility, commonly installed under residential suburbs. Seven other states have similar programs...