Water Harvesting
WHAT is rainwater harvesting?Even in arid and semi-arid regions, it rains from time to time. Although rain may occur infrequently, desert storms can drop a great deal of water in a short time. If you have large amounts of impermeable surfaces on your lot, such as bare ground or pavement, or if your roof has gutters and downspouts, you may be able to capture some of this rain and direct it to your landscaping or store it for use during drier periods. Rainwater harvesting can reduce your landscaping maintenance costs and provide other benefits. |
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WHY harvest rainwater?
Irrigation of your landscaping can be done "off the grid" your landscaping maintenance costs can be reduced, and you can use what you can capture rather than drawing on municipal resources.
- Rainwater quality and chemistry is beneficial to your plants. Rainwater is lower in salts than many other water sources. Directing rainwater runoff to plants can help leach salts from the soil that accumulate from irrigation with tap water. Rainwater from thunderstorms is also nitrogen-rich and good for plants.
- Directing rainwater to put it to beneficial use can reduce erosion and flooding in areas you DON'T want the water to accumulate.
- Managing runoff water at the place of origin helps reduce the overall stormwater that a municipality must manage.
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Find out HOW to capture rainwater, WHERE you can see demonstration sites, and WHO can provide more information on this great water-saving technique used by desert dwellers. Visit Rain Harvest HELP Also try our free online learning module focused on simple backyard rainwater harvesting techniques. The module makes use of "how-to" video clips, photos, demonstrations, animations, and interactive quizzes to communicate simple principles of capturing rainwater for landscape use. Funded by WSP, the module was created by Theresa Crimmins and Katherine Waser and the team at the UA ALIC. |
