House Bill 3391 would tell financial institutions that they may consider financing homes using 100% rainwater collection for their water source
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By Barbara Hopson
Special to the RoundUp
Few bills concerning rainwater collection were introduced by legislators in the current session of the Legislature because those politicians knew that the items that Governor Perry deemed emergency measures would require almost all their time and energy.
However, companion bills HB 3372 (Tracy King, D-Eagle Pass) and SB 1073 (Mike Jackson, R-La Porte) are making some headway through the Legislature. The bills don't really legislate much, but at least they indicate that it will be permitted for citizens to use rainwater collection in conjunction with a public water supply source. What is stressed in the bills is that "appropriate cross-connection safeguards" must be in place to prevent one system from contaminating the other. The Sierra Club is on record as approving Jackson's bill.
King's House bill has already passed the full House. Sen. Jackson's SB 1073 was actually improved in the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and was passed favorably out of committee yesterday (April 28).
Contact Senator Jeff Wentworth (jeff.wentworth@senate.tx.state.us) to vote for SB 1073 when it comes before the full Senate soon. Then HB 3372 and SB 1073 can, hopefully, be reconciled and passed into law.
House Bill 3391 (Doug Miller, R-New Braunfels) was passed out of the House Natural Resources Commitee with a favorable vote of 11-0. That bill would 1) tell financial institutions that they may consider financing homes using 100% rainwater collection for their water source, and 2) legislate that new state buildings of a certain (large) size must include at least some rainwater collection in their building plans.
These bills are a nod of the Legislature in favor of promotion of rainwater collection.
7 comments:
Barbara Hopson said... “These bills are a nod of the Legislature in favor of promotion of rainwater collection.”
Thanks for the heads-up regarding this very important subject. The Lege is not really promoting rainwater collection, but is providing for the protection of public water supplies from poorly or amateur installed systems. Some would say that, the State is interfering with the free exercise of securing one of natures gifts, I disagree. A poorly designed and installed rainwater harvesting system can cross contaminate other sources of potable water that may be used in the home. This can lead to outbreaks of disease with possible fatal results. I have read and support both Bills as they stand today.
It is best that these health controls be in place before everybody installs them willie nillie all over the state. There are of course more controls to come as the popularity of these systems increases. I just hope the State does not get carried away with such regulation or begins to see the issue as fertile ground for new taxes and fees.
Note: The State of Colorado has banned rainwater harvesting, claiming that all of the rain that falls on the State belongs to the State not the property owner. They have also placed severe restrictions on gray water re-use to the point that you can not use reclaimed wash water from showers or washing machines for irrigation. This could happen here if we don’t keep an eye on the Lege.
Thanks for you diligence, Barbara.
Thanks Barbara for the article and Richard for your astute comments.
Using a word play off the moon mission:
"A small gesture for homeowners, a small step for politicians."
Colorado did away with the rainwater collectin ban a year or two ago
Thanks Anonymous at 9:15AM, for the update on Colorado rainwater law. I left there 3 years ago and obviously haven’t kept up with their situations. I’m glad they are waking up. Surprisingly, some of the anti-growth advocates in that state want to stop rainwater harvesting since they believe it encourages development in areas where hardly any other source of water exists.
Actually, since July 1, 2009, Colorado removed restrictions from rainwater collection ONLY in specified situations.
If you live in a city, where there is a municipal water system, you still cannot collect rainwater. If you live in a rural area AND you have an exempt well, you are allowed to gather rainwater as a backup for your groundwater source.
See www.homescolorado.com/rules-for-rainwater-collection-in-colorado.
You see, it is about holding you captive for purposes of maintaining a monopoly!
By the way, the Lege gives far too much deference to folks OTHER than the homeowners. In particular, "choice" is removed from homeowners living in HOA-burdened property. HOAs have been mandated indirectly or directly for a couple of decades at least and the people living in those subdivisions are treated as second class citizens. There may be laws which render restrictive covenants prohibiting rainwater collection void - but the Lege has still given far too much power to the "NO" crowd to limit the homeowner's abilities to implement RW collection.
If the legislature was actually interested in enabling homeowners to implement RW collection systems they wouldn't give so much power to the HOA corporations to prevent homeowners from doing so.
Geez Barbara, you make it hard for all of us to say something without looking like we don't have all the facts.
Keep up the good work.
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