Water Harvesting 101

Ready to take your water conservation efforts to the next level? This episode is for you! It starts with a plug for landscaping with the drought-tolerant native plants that have been surviving and thriving in the Southwest for thousands of years. It then moves into a more extreme measure–dispensing with irrigation systems that are tied to a municipal water supply. Rainwater storage and laundry water recycling are also featured.

Here in Tucson, we haven’t had measurable rainfall in more than a month. So, I’m calling it. We’re in the dry season. In this podcast, I’ll be covering the dry season to-do list for water harvesters. My focus will be on the three activities of water harvesting: Redirecting rainwater away from where it isn’t wanted to where it is; storing rainwater for later use, for example, during a drought; and recycling “used” water.

On this podcast, I talk a lot about water harvesting equipment. As in, rainwater harvesting cisterns, greywater harvesting systems, etc. And you may be wondering, where does one get this stuff? In this episode, we’re joined by Eli Nielsen, co-founder of The Rain Store, a water harvesting supply store that’s right here in Tucson.

Our friends at the National Weather Services’s Climate Prediction Center just released the summer forecast for the American Southwest. Arizona is in the “above normal” category for summer rainfall, and that’s good news. It points to a possible return of El Niño, a weather pattern that is associated with abundant rainfall. This episode describes my activities in the here-and-now, along with some summer preparations.

Springtime in the desert means that the flowers are blooming–for a very short time. Then the flowers fall off their trees and shrubs. This can create a lot of work for humans who’d rather not have all of that litter all over the driveway–and other places. However, that litter can also serve as mulch. Even better, it’s free mulch! In this episode, I’ll tell you how to take advantage of that free mulch from above.

Tucson just played host to a heat wave. As in, triple-digit temperatures. In March. This episode provides practical tips for coping with such an event, whether it’s in March or at other times of the year. You’ll learn how to handle your gardening and your household.

We’ve rolled into the month of March, which marks the start of meteorological spring. So, it’s time to start planning that spring/summer garden. At my place, I’m planning for three raised beds and a vertical planter. I’ll be relying on seeds from Arizona-based Terroir Seeds. They offer the introductory sound effect for this episode, so let’s get shaking those seed packets!

This episode features the iron man of Arizona weather forecasting, Michael Groff. He produces a highly detailed daily weather forecast on YouTube, the Phoenix, Arizona Weather Discussion. Get a behind-the-scenes look at how Michael puts these forecasts together and learn about his other online media ventures.

Let’s meet Michael Albanese, author of the water harvesting book, The Modern Rain Garden: Scrape, Shape, and Plant. Michael has designed and built dozens of rain gardens and also has helped countless others build theirs. In this episode, he’ll explain what rain gardens are, and what’s behind the scrape, shape, and plant approach to rain garden design and construction.

I’m pleased to report that my place is one of the busiest natural habitats in the neighborhood. In this episode, I’ll share how the local bird species utilize my rain-fed landscape for nourishment, socializing, and nesting.

As water harvesters, we’re all about creating beauty in our landscapes and gardens. But we’re also dealing with scarcity. It isn’t just the water that’s scarce, we also need to handle monetary and time constraints.

Unlike most of the rest of the United States, Tucson isn’t covered with snow and suffering through sub-freezing temperatures. But yes, it does snow here. In this episode, I’ll view snowfall from the perspective of a Southwestern water harvester.

Although we have been experiencing a La Niña weather pattern, with above average temperatures and below average rainfall, this pattern is breaking down. I’m even hearing talk of an impending El Niño weather pattern, which can be quite rainy. In this episode, I’m thinking long-term about our Southwestern weather.

In Tucson, we just experienced our first Freeze Warning of the winter. So, it was time to harvest the Meyer lemons. Here’s a look at how I did that– and what I’m planning to do with my harvest.

My laundry-to-landscape greywater harvesting system irrigates three fruit trees. This episode focuses on needed maintenance of this system and its six emitters, three of which are for my big pomegranate tree, two are for my small pomegranate, and one is for my Meyer lemon.

Quite often, water harvesting is associated with cisterns. And cisterns are expensive. So, if you can’t afford a cistern, what can you do? Quite a bit! This episode advises you to focus your efforts on passive water harvesting, with a bit of “used” water recycling thrown in for good measure.