Rainwater Harvesting in Colorado Fact Sheet

• Year: 2007
• Title: Rainwater Harvesting in Colorado
• CWCB Section: Water Conservation & Drought Planning
• Author: CWCB
• Description: Rainwater Harvesting in Colorado
• Publications - Doc Type: Fact Sheets

otherwise need to be provided to offset
evaporation from the exposure of
groundwater based on the portion of the
precipitation that did not historically reach the
stream system, due to consumption by native
vegetation through evapotranspitation (ET).

Study Recommendations:

The study recommended that statutory law be
crafted to allow precipitation capture and use
with augmentation requitements based on
maintaining the amount, timing, and location
of historical runoff and deep percolation,
which is the water supply for existing water
rights. The law would requite a water court
application for an augmentation plan to
provide a forum to allow existing water right
owner to evaluate the details of the
augmentation plan and impose terms and
conditions to protect the historical yield of
theit water rights.
Policy makers should consider authorizing a
pilot project to verify and/or calibrate the
calculated results from the recommended
algorithms above. The pilot project could be
used to work out many of the detail issues
that may arise in a water court application to
use rainwater harvesting.

For more information contact Veva McCaig at the CWCB at [phone].
1313 Sherman Street, Room 721, Denver, CO 80203
Phone: [phone]. Fax: [phone]
Website : www.cwcb.state.co.us