Colorado is in the high desert of the United States. In Castle Rock (on the eastern slope along I-25 about midway between Denver and Colorado Springs) our annual rainfall averages about 17 - 18 inches. For comparision; Chicago gets about 38 inches and Seattle gets about 39 inches, and Boston gets a whopping 42 inches.
Back to Chicago - Sugar Grove, IL, a Chicago suburb is installing a rainwater retention pond to assist them in their local watering needs (http://tinyurl.com/n42jx9). This sounds like a great idea to me. People managing locally what is given to them freely so that they can responsibly lead their lives.
We couldn't do this in Colorado. Colorado's rainwater is highly controlled, as is greywater - the water in which you just took your bath. We rent our water in Colorado. Due to the combination of our being in a low rainfall region and that we are upstream from pretty much the rest of the US (a fact that gave me great satisfaction when I had some professional frustrations with people in coastal regions) our water is tightly managed: http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/natres/06702.html.
I believe personal responsibility is the way to go so I salute the citizens of Sugar Grove, IL, and I praise their government for not interfering with this. I hope our governor is reading this article too.
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