Did you know that a ½ inch of rain that falls on the roof of a 1,500-square-foot home can equal 500 gallons of water? By capturing this rainwater instead of letting it run into the street, you will help to conserve our precious water resources and save money irrigating the plants in your yard.
To assess your potential for harvesting water, it is helpful to spend some time outside observing what happens after a rain. Where is this water that is shed off the roof going? If it is falling onto the driveway instead of a planting bed, it could easily be redirected.
Rainwater can be harvested in different ways. One of the easiest to implement is called passive techniques, which directs water right into the soil for immediate beneficial use. This can be done by constructing basins, berms, swales, or shallow depressions. These contours in the landscape can be constructed before you design and install or after the fact. Make sure standing water disappears within a day and that you keep any water storage away from the foundation of buildings.
Another way to harvest rainwater is through catchments such as rain barrels or tanks. These active techniques direct water to these catchments through gutters on the roof of your home.
| Passive Water Harvesting Techniques | Active Water Harvesting Techniques |
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Drawing a map of your property will help you assess your rainwater harvesting potential. Be sure to indicate with arrows the direction water flows off your roof and mark the high and low points of your property. Make note of where water tends to accumulate. Show the direction of water from any slopes in the yard. If you have a large slope, you can use berms to slow water down enough to soak into the soil.
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Capture rainwater to benefit your plants instead of letting it erode your landscape.
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Create depressions to capture rainwater to benefit the landscape.
Photo: Glendale Xeriscape Garden
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The rain collected provides water to the surrounding plants.
Photo: Glendale Rain Garden
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Use berms and slopes to slow water and allow it to percolate into the soil for plant use.
Photo: Glendale Rain Garden
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Use gutters or rain chains to direct rainwater into the landscape.
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Sealed barrels and tanks, or mosquito dunks can help prevent mosquito problems.
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Capture rainwater to benefit your plants instead of letting it erode your landscape.
-
Create depressions to capture rainwater to benefit the landscape.
Photo: Glendale Xeriscape Garden
-
The rain collected provides water to the surrounding plants.
Photo: Glendale Rain Garden
-
Use berms and slopes to slow water and allow it to percolate into the soil for plant use.
Photo: Glendale Rain Garden
-
Use gutters or rain chains to direct rainwater into the landscape.
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Sealed barrels and tanks, or mosquito dunks can help prevent mosquito problems.
Rainwater Harvesting Resources
- Arizona Rainlog
- American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association
- Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond by Brad Lancaster
- University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Publications
- Watershed Management Group
- Water Use It Wisely Rainwater Harvesting
Books
Prehistoric Water Utilization and Technology in Arizona, by Foster, Michael S., Arizona State Parks, State Historic Preservation Office; Bureau of Reclamation, Phoenix Area Office
Texas Guide to Rainwater Harvesting, by Wendy Price Todd and Gail Vittori, Texas Water Development Board in Cooperation with the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems, Second Edition, 1997; Austin, Texas.