RAIN!!!

Oh I am just so overjoyed. Anyone else having rain? We have had 3 days solid of rain. I don't mean those "fake" afternoon thunderstorms...no I mean like I'm pulling buckets upon buckets of water out of my pond so that my fish won't float away.

I think all our dancing worked!
On a separate note, I did find out in the course of the week, that rain harvesting is not usually allowed in Colorado...any thoughts/knowledge?
Here's a pic of all the extra water from the pond (minus the rest I dumped in the grass)...I'm not harvesting, I just don't have anywhere for it to go! My pond is still about 2" over normal. I love it!

That's the craziest thing I've ever heard off. Probably one of those "old law" that they need to change.

I have heard that about rain collecting. I think the idea is that we are supposed to let it go to fill the reservoirs etc. The average annual rainfall in Colorado is only about 15 inches per year so I guess they want to make sure we all share :0). I wish I could say that I make efficient use of the water runoff in my landscape (which we are allowed to do). I have one of my downspouts directed into the veggie garden and one into the compost bin and that's about it.

That's what I understood the law to mean, that if everyone collects all of the little rain we get, there will be a problem. I have a hard time believing that enough people would be responsible enough to collect enough rain water to make a dent...but who knows!

Sounds like you make good use of the rainwater, Lisa. It's not really possible for me to aim my downspouts anywhere beneficial.
It's STILL pouring by the way!

Susanne, we've had rain almost every day for the past three weeks at our house! Last Thursday through Saturday were pretty much a constant drizzle, with good storms off and on, and at night. I'm getting a teensy bit worried that we'll be reaching saturation soon in places around town, if we haven't already. Keep an eye on your basement, if you have one!

You are correct about the law, Sus. If you weren't here for all of the water-grabbing done by lawmakers in many of the western states decades back, consider yourself lucky. I'm not an expert (and memories fade) but I do know that the Colorado River flow is claimed (by use of a formula for amounts per rainfall/snowfall here) and is relied upon for Phoenix, AZ and points west to California. It is the formula for the amts. "due" to the other places that would cause the other states to be aware of large amts. being held within Colorado (yes, our reservoirs and the farmers' canals are factored in, too). Individuals cannot use cisterns for water that falls on their roof or land. The water that falls on the majority of private land is still factored into that equation. Really.

Don't worry about your small cache, since it isn't a regular happening. If you want to recycle water, there is no law to stop you from reusing "gray" water from laundry, to my knowledge. (You might want to check with your local lawmakers, to be sure).

I let the water flow out of our pond the last couple of days. The fish are smart enough to stay low to survive. We saw that they are all here still, today. As with so many things in my yard, they must survive with a certain amt. of neglect ;) They usually take refuge among the plants at the bottom of the pond during rainfall....

That's good to know that the fish are smart like that ..I was worried about them mainly with the disruption of the water quality and balance. They have certainly been hiding for the last couple days. I can't believe how much the rain has changed the water though--my water temps were around 50 today...crazy!

That's confusing about all the water rights. I had the distinct pleasure of being on a jury all week long, and I have way too many useless laws in my head right now. lol
Ps, Diane do you recognize your tub? It's making itself useful while away. :)

Glad to see that the tub isn't taking it easy....

We have had jury calls but Al is never selected (I get exempted because I am a full-time, primary care provider). Either his statistical background and/or our unique family circumstances have kept him from ever having been selected. You are lucky to have had the opportunity to serve! Al would envy you, to be sure. My aunt was selected several times a yr., while she was alive...she just loved the whole process. Aren't we lucky to live in the USA?

It was really interesting...not the case, but the whole process. We ended in a mistrial due to hung jury after 8 straight hours of deliberation...it was intense!

I, too, found jury duty very interesting. I got called only on DWI cases and one possession of marijuana and paraphernalia cases. It was amazing how many excuses people can come up with for their problems e.g. "My confession to possession and paraphernalia was not valid because I was drunk" or the reason my blood alcohol was way over the limit is that by the time I took the test I had lost a lot of blood from my wreck."
I learned a lot about people, the process and the law. I only one who got convicted was the marijuana guy because everyone figured the confession was valid. The jury, to my amazement, thought the law about blood alcohol limits and the tactics of the police while catching drunks, were unfair. I was very surprised because you hear so much against DWI.

Does a mistrial mean the person gets another trial? He doesn't go free because of a hung jury...right?

M.A.D.D. has brought DWI to our collective attn. Sad that it took the death of children to make us notice people drinking and driving. If the jury throws out the case, it makes one wonder how safe we want our streets?

Well the case I juried on was a civil personal injury litigation--a lady fell while a contractor was repairing her house, so she was suing re: negligence ... so no criminals were released because of the mistrial. But yes, the case will either be retried or they will try to settle out of court.

Oh...I'd agree that most contractors aren't criminals. ;)

My DH is a trial lawyer, mostly civil (real estate, business, tort, etc.)... although (thankfully!) we do a lot of other stuff besides court cases. We've been swamped with a multi-zillion dollar business deal for the last three weeks, which is FINALLY closed as of this afternoon... wooooooohooooooooo! DH never did get to sleep last night, and we've been up til the not-so-wee hours every night for the last week, and about every other night for two weeks before that! I've been posting here in between document changes!

I'll ask hubbie about the water thang after we celebrate the closing--have a massive dinner, prolly too much wine, sleep for a couple of days, and go to Elitches! Hope they're still open...

Well, I couldn't wait, so I asked hubby about the water thing. He said it sounds likely that Colorado has that law, as Colorado is a "prior appropriation" state. So, even if the water falls out of the sky onto your property, it doesn't belong to you, unless you have prior rights to (appropriate) the water.

Greenjay can tell you all about Colorado water law. She said once that Denver, at least, had sold all its water rights to some company so no one could even collect the water that falls off their roof.
That is definitely not the case in New Mexico. Santa Fe gives people discounts for buying rain barrels or other water catching devices. Most of us in New Mexico do that.
I doubt that claiming the water that falls of one's roof harms the water table because if you pour it on your plants -- few seem to use it for drinking -- it flows back down into the water table maybe only a day or so later than the day it fell out of the sky. If you pour it on house plants the breath it into the air which then contributes to some rain later -- though perhaps not on the same house.
Cisterns and catchment systems were used very commonly in New Mexico until fairly recent times because people couldn't afford to drill a well or maybe the water was way deeper than they could drill.
Anyhow, I have seen old houses here with big sisterns used to save water.

Concerning hung juries -- as it turns out the DA gets to decide whether to retry the case or not when there is a hung jury in a criminal case.
Mtnmama, I, too, was surprised when I found out the juries were so eager to let drunks off. I think it is because the police here in Los Alamos are sometimes very overbearing and in those days they used to sit in their cruisers outside of bars waiting to catch people as soon as they pulled out of the parking lots onto the public road. One of the jurors was a coctail waitress and was on the side of her customers. Others just seed to be kind of unconcerned. I don't get what that is all about. Most of these people would probably tell you they disapproved of driving while intoxicated.
I think that just shows you that people determine the law in a free country -- no matter what the law says. I know in the South it took a generation or two to convict some of the people who eventually were found guilty of lynchings in the South. Nowadays some of those people have been convicted of crimes 40 or 50 years ago because they were never found not guilty. And now the mood of Southerners is different and the juries are willing to convict in such cases.
Sorry this isn't much about rain.
So I will add that we have finally been getting a bit of rain here -- not enough to overflow anything in Los Alamos even a fish pond, but we had a total of about 4/10 of an inch over the weekend. I was in Roswell ( yes I saw the Alien Museum) and one night they got 2.6 inches while I slept. I thought my neighbors in the hotel were unruly, but no, it was thunder.

I loved living in Yellowknife Northwest Territories. The City gave you a discount on water in the summer to encourage people to beautify their lots. Cowtown just says thanks for the $$$$$ sigh.

Ah for the days, when we were encouraged to water our lawns. It is concern about having adequate drinking water that ended that in most places. Even in Los Alamos, where we have lots of water dedicated to our town, they want to limit our consumption so other nearby cities can have it.
Sigh. Living in a the Rockies, which are generally dry, has its down side. Lack of water is, for me, the biggest.

I hear ya paj. Yellowknife (population at the time of 15,000) is on Great Slave Lake. Bigger than the Great Lakes so lack of water was never an issue. Here I have guilt every time I water cuz although we have the reservoir so many of our neighbour communities have nothing. That's why I try to be water wise here.

My farm in Mississippi has its own lake -- about 35 acres in size. Nobody in Mississippi worries about water -- except for facilitating its drainage. With people trying to purchase water for use in other states, I suppose the day will come for the southern states of the US to worry about water, but right now people can use as much water as they want. That is one of the things I love about the Southern part of the US. There is lots of water and there are lots of warm weather plants, camellias, azaleas, magnolias, gardenias and lots of others. It is a beautiful area of the US, but the Rockies provide a much more comfortable environment! Wet environments are full of mosquitoes and other creepy crawlies. Here in New Mexico we only have to worry about deer, bears, racoons, coyotes, bob cats, mountain lions, and foxes.
Of course there are lots of wild critters in the South as well - but not very many large critters other than deer.
I do love the luxury of unlimited water -- one we don't have in the west.

A farm in Mississippi cool? where? (asks the snoopy person)

Lots of rain in metro Denver too -- it's been LOVELY! My lawn has turned green again, and my fall-blooming perennials are perking up very nicely. Many tomatoes split, but I picked all the ripe ones and they're still very tasty ;-)

The water laws in the West are legendary -- water is a commodity. Water rights are like mineral rights, and can be bought and sold. Expected water flow is based on average precipitation across the affected states, and expected runoff, etc, less expected water consumption. States with headwaters, like Colorado, supply other states downstream, and there are agreements about how much water is expected to flow downstream. Any land development that uses water MUST obtain water rights. Places like Las Vegas and Phoenix, built in the desert, have to use water from somewhere else to supply household water, and water to green up those golf courses and spray through those fountains. It can get very expensive, very political, and very uh "strong-arm". Even "used" water -- purportedly treated and made reusable -- is included in the calculations. So using grey-water is technically illegal, bc the customer has paid to use it once -- to wash dishes or take a shower -- and using it again is "stealing". Freaky, isn't it? I'm not an attorney -- just very curious. When I found out it was "against the law" to use grey-water in Colorado, or to catch water in a rain barrel, I started looking into it.

Here in west-central Montana, we are in our normal dry spell. Fortunately, in our little park (4 mobiles), we have our own well with separate outdoor water line to hook our hoses to. This is my 7th summer gardening here and we have never been short of well water and are able to keep our lawns and gardens watered.

But I'd welcome a good rain right now. There is a wildfire burning 15 miles west of Stevensville near the MT/ID border (Stevensville is 15 miles south of me). Since it isn't near any homes, etc, they decided to let it burn. But unfortunately, the smoke is blowing up the valley and makes it very hazy.

Is gray water usage a state issue or a city issue, Trisha?

I heard about grey-water usage being "illegal" from a Denver Water Dept. person, but I don't think it's a city issue. The state as a whole is held accountable for overall downstream flows to other states, but smaller constituencies are responsible for their pieces. When water is "consumed", there is an expectation that some uses will generate waste water, which will be "recovered" and re-introduced to the overall downstream flow. For example, when we wash dishes, a portion of the water is expected to flow into the sewer lines, and from there to sewage treatment, and from there back into the streams.

I don't know whether gray water usage is a state or local issue, but here in Los Alamos the county uses the grey water from our sewerage treatment plant to water the golf course and the soccer fields, or at least some of them. It stinks while watering, but afterwards the grass smells fine. I think you aren't supposed to reuse your own grey water, but once in Santa Fe, I stuck the output hose from my washing machine out a convenient window and had the loveliest lawn. My current house does not have a good way to put grey water on the lawn or I would be doing the same. It is no doubt illegal here, but I can't imagine anyone noticing. I think reuse of grey water -- for non-edible crops like lawn, shade trees, and flowers, is a terrific idea.

DN,
Yes I have a lovely farm in Mississippi and would move there in a heartbeat if there were any way my DH could make a living there or if he were to retire. At this point, neither one is likely, but I go there as often as possible.
The land there is just like Los Alamos only flat. There are tall pines and few people. The farm is in Lumberton ( near Hattiesburg and 1 1/2 hr. drive from New Orleans.) I was
born in Mississippi and raised in New Orleans so it is roots for me. If any of you would like to come visit me there let me know. It is a wonderful place and there is lots to see in the area and lots of good Cajun and New Orleans food.
I love to entertain there and have lots of room in my rustic but comfortable farm house.
It is one of the most beautiful places on earth and has lots of trees and critters. Only forget going there in the summer! I skip July, August and September there.
But March and April are full of flowers there and June is nice with but requires air conditioning. The rest of the year is nice, too.
Picture of the farm March 2007. Pink bush is an azalea. Down wood is from Katrina.

Very luvly and peaceful paj and on a river too. Which river (can't find the name on google map) Thanks.

That is actually a creek which has been dammed up. You are looking at our pond. You know as far as I know that creek doesn't have a name. There are two creeks on the property, unnamed as far as I know. If you dammed up a stream in New Mexico you would go to jail if not get shot first. In Mississippi, no one minds. There is so much water that it isn't a problem. Of course, once the lake is full, the creek flows again.
It is pretty and peaceful. There are no visible neighbors -- it is surrounded by paper company land which makes for great wild life habitat. Growing a garden there is tricky, though because of all the critters that come for their share.

The picture now.

YEAH!! Here in west-central Montana, it has been raining, off and on, since late yesterday afternoon. I'm hoping it's also raining down the valley to help put out the wildfires.

Needless to say, today will be an indoor chores sort of day.. LOL!

Paj,
I made my post and then saw your last picture. That is some damage! If the down wood in the first pic is from Katrina, what caused all this.. a tornado? And is the house okay? Don't envy you the clean up. :(

OMG I just saw this! What happened paj???

What happened to the house is Katrina. It knocked over large trees and two fell on the house and one on the gazebo and two on the barn. Thanks to friends, all the trees were removed free of charge. Those people are so good! And I hired someone who repaired all the damage -- mostly the roof. It cost plenty but everything is fine now, actually better than before. The trees grew before the house was built, but I am now taking out all the tall trees close enough to hit the house. I learned the lesson of no tall trees near the house the hard way --actually twice now. A large red oak fell on the house during hurricane Georges some years ago. It bled red sap all over one of the bedrooms. For a while it looked as if a murderer lived there. It has all been fixed up since.
There may have been a tornado that went through the area during the hurricane. Tornadoes were reported in the area, but nobody was out looking around during the hurricane. Nobody was at my house, luckily, because it was scary and took about 2 months to clear the road out to the highway. Nevertheless, no one who stayed in the house would have been seriously injured, the trees didn't crash that far down into the house. But if they had gone outside they might very well have gone to the land of Oz.
We are still cleaning up, but most of the land within sight of the house is in pretty good shape. The woods are still a mess, but we will probably just let them stay that way. Woods don't have to look all that great. The trees that are left will continue to grow and will reseed the ones that died.

Paj mother nature can sure be a horrific lady at times. I'm so glad to hear no one was hurt and that the farmhouse was restorable. What alot of work and expense though!!!!

Yes, a hurricane is enough to make you respect mother nature's might. And Katrina was one of the strongest, but not the strongest on record. It was expensive cleaning up the mess and fixing the house, but the house is better than ever now and I am having other tall trees near the house removed, but there are a lot! The person who built the house -- not my family-- wanted a house in the woods and so did I, but I have now learned to use small trees near the house and large ones much farther out.
I have been near tornadoes but never in one. I would just as soon skip that experience, but I really would like to see the northern lights some day. I bet you see them all the time up there in Canada.

No northern lights here paj but they are spectacular in Yellowknife. We used to take our snowmachines out on the lake to look at them. Sundogs are cool too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_dog I have an acrylic of the northern lights done by a northern artistic in my living room so I will always be able to see them.

You know that book A Thousand Things to See before You Die ( or some such). Well, the northern lights is one for me. I am told you mostly see them in winter because the days are so long in summer, they don't show up.
Also on my list were to see a total solar eclipse -- I have now seen two and they were worth it. Another was to see an erupting volcano. I have seen the one on the island of Hawaii erupting twice. I saw Monserrat from a sail boat and Aetna puffing a few plumes of smoke.
So some day I will have to buy a really heavy coat and go north in the winter to see them. I am surprised you don't see them in Calgary. You are pretty far north, aren't you?

Betty, we saw the Aurora Borealis in northeastern Nebraska! We'd often be driving back to college late and see them lighting up the skies in the early 1970's. You don't have to travel too far;) They really are one of those sights you need to experience.

Took my mom to see the volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. She was disappointed. She wanted to see a real BIG eruption. I told her I would not get close to ANY volcano during a BIG eruption. She'd have to go without me! Some things just don't trip my trigger, I guess.

I wouldn't want to be in a big erruption either. I watched the lava flow into a sub-division in Hawaii. The church had been moved to a trailer with wheels and the houses, built on slabs were slowly but surely being swallowed up by the lava.
But it was fun watching it pour into the ocean and even the subdivision because the people had moved out long before. Monserrat was erupting magnificently when we sailed by, but we were far enough away just to see the red against the night sky. It was beautiful, but people were losing their homes there as well.
I do hope to see the aurora borealis some day, but they aren't very predictable and I am not quite sure how we will figure out when to go. My husband says they occur in 11 year cycles so we should go when they are near max. The problem is that we don't know when max is -- yet. We are working on it.