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SALT LAKE CITY — Financial help from the Salt Lake County Watershed Program and the cities of Millcreek and Murray means residents of those areas can pick up a rain barrel for $50 while supplies last.
The Utah Rivers Council announced the return of the popular RainHarvest program, which offers the heavily discounted barrels to those residents and others can get them for $75. The barrels normally retail for $129.
Residents can get the barrels by going to the Utah River Council's website and following instructions there.
About 4,000 barrels have been purchased through the Utah Rivers Council’s RainHarvest program, meaning that 200,000 gallons of water are saved every time it rains enough to fill a 50 gallon barrel, according to the organization.
Capturing rainwater also improves water quality by storing water on site and preventing urban runoff from flowing through streets and gutters, and washing pollutants into streams and lakes. Rainwater harvesting is legal in Utah after legislation was passed several years ago.
"Once someone starts capturing the rain, they grow passionate about conserving water and more conscious of how our water use is connected to our rivers and the fish and wildlife species they support,” said Nick Schou, conservation director for Utah Rivers Council.
After the barrels are purchased online, people can pick them up at a designated date and location where volunteers will be on hand to teach participants about the importance of rainwater harvesting and other water conservation strategies.
The National Weather Service in Salt Lake City is calling for rain on Friday and more unsettled weather next week.
Meteorologists have said the remaining weeks in April will be cooler and wetter with a new pattern of storms moving in.
