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Senate adopts limits on rainwater harvesting; amendment restricts transfer and system size
Summary
Senate Bill 32, on rainwater harvesting, was amended to limit capture to one system per parcel and restrict container size/quantity; the amendment passed and the bill passed as amended (roll-call: 25 yea, 2 nay, 2 absent) after a floor debate about prior appropriation and parcel transfers.
Senators adopted an amendment to Senate Bill 32 to clarify that residential rainwater collection is limited to one system per parcel and to cap the size and number of storage containers. Sponsor Senator McAdams said the amendment was intended to "make certain minor clarifications" and preserve the de minimis nature of captured water.
Opponents and questioners pressed whether the amendment effectively prevents moving captured rainwater between parcels. Senator Greiner asked whether a landowner with multiple tax parcels could store larger aggregate volumes by placing tanks on each parcel; the sponsor replied the bill permits storage only for the parcel on which water is captured. "You have to use it on the parcel in which it was captured," Senator McAdams said after floor clarification.
Senator Butters objected on principle to government restrictions on moving captured rainwater; Senator Valentine and Senator Romero supported the amendment as protecting prior-appropriation water rights. Senator Jenkins summed that permitting transfers would be a substantive change to Utah's prior-appropriation doctrine and recommended caution.
After floor debate, the Senate adopted the amendment and passed SB 32 as amended; the clerk announced the vote as 25 yea, 2 nay, 2 absent. The bill will be forwarded to the House for further action.
