Untitled DocumentRainwater harvesting for arid environments
Macro Theme Area:
Knowledge Transfer [Project ID: K42]
PI:
Gary Woodard
CO-PI(s):
Jim Riley
Basin focus:
Regional SW
Specific area in
basin /
field sites:
N/A
Summary/Goals: This project assists home owners, landscape architects, and small business owners who want to harvest precipitation from roofs, streets and other impervious surfaces. The goals are: develop The Nature Conservancy's Tucson complex and other sites into demonstration sites and short course venues for various approaches to harvesting rainwater from roofs and streets; investigate water quality issues of rainfall runoff from different types of roofs and from paved roads; develop a science-based approach to planning rainwater harvesting projects that matches supplies and demands, estimates costs, and forecasts water savings; and develop a web site that lets the general public receive customized (location- and landscape-specific) analysis and advice on sizing and constructing a rainwater harvesting system.
Activities and outcomes during past year:
This project began in early 2005, and was supported by SAHRA CDI funds in FY2005-06. It received continuing support for the latter half of 2006, that supported two graduate students, one in HWR and one in Landscape Architecture.
Products and progress in 2007 include further development of The Nature Conservancy demonstration site (new cistern, 4 new curb cuts & basins, 2 new berm/basin installations.
Further, a small project was proposed and funded to make a casita at Biosphere 2 a sustainability showcase, with rainwater harvesting and new irrigation. Another grant is pending from Bureau of Reclamation.
TNC is increasingly used as a group education site, including during the AHS-SWH symposium, and is being integrated into the Pima County Master Watershed Stewards curriculum.
Plans for the upcoming year:
The large iconic cistern has been ordered and is due to be delivered in March 2008. Signage and a brochure for the self-guided tour at TNC will be completed. Other activities depend on funding from Reclamation.
