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DENVER — It has been for years one of the strangest laws in Colorado: Banning residents from using rain barrels to collect water.

On Wednesday, weeks after testimony was first heard on the subject, the Senate Agriculture Committee — which stalled the bill last year — voted to move the measure to a full vote by the Senate.

RELATED: Profile of the rain barrel bill

“The bill took a big step forward and is in its last leg,” Becky Long with Conservation Colorado said. “Each step forward is a step forward and more momentum.”

The vote was 6-3 with the committee Chairman Jerry Sonnenberg voting against the bill.

“My concern here is that if indeed we have rain barrels, it may cause depletions,” Sonnenberg said before casting his vote.

The measure has already passed the House.