Saving rain: How much is too much?

On a nonprofit Woodinville farm devoted to sustainable practices, rain hits a green shed roof covered in a carpet of herbs and moss.

Drops run down a chain into four weathered barrels, draining to a small pond ringed by cherry trees, huckleberry bushes and native plants.

It's a system the 21 Acres farm wants to create on a much grander scale when it breaks ground next year on an agricultural center with farm stalls, classrooms and test kitchens. The new addition could store 150,000 gallons of rain to irrigate dozens of adjacent garden plots, currently sucking up expensive city water.

There's just one problem.

It almost certainly would violate state water law. And if one wanted to be persnickety, so might the rain barrels cities encourage conservation-minded homeowners to buy.

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Technically, rain that falls on your roof isn't yours for the taking. It's a resource of the state, which regulates the use of public waters through an allocation process that can take years to navigate.

Seattle PI

Looming Water Shortage Creates Profit Opportunities for Investors

Water as the Ultimate Liquid Asset

JUPITER, Florida June 5, 2008 — By 2020, 45% of U.S. water utilities will need repair. That's just one of the reasons that water should become one of the most lucrative commodities of the 21st Century, according to a new report by Weiss Research commodities analyst Sean Brodrick.

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Water is a valuable natural resource and the demand for it is not elastic — as prices rise, consumption does not decrease," said Brodrick. "Investors should see steady price acceleration as demand continues to surge around the world."

Money and Market