Rainwater Harvesting Workshop April 17-18

Rainwater Harvesting at Home Workshop

Saturday April 17th and Sunday April 18th, 10am-4pm, Boulder, Colorado with Jason Gerhardt and Steve Morgan

Explore the soggy, spongy oasis of rainwater harvesting -- for the home landscape, urban areas and beyond. Water harvesting earthworks, cistern systems, plant ecologies, Colorado legalities, hands-on work, and more. Directly applicable to any landscape, no matter the size. Attend one or both days.

Detailed flyer

Questions? Jason, 303-258-7982, jasongerhardt@gmail.com

Registration

Video on Desert Water Catchment

Anupam Mishra gives a 17 minute talk about water harvesting structures of India. I couldn't find much more about him--his bio says that he presents on water harvesting techniques often, but I didn't find too many presentations online, and the Gandhi Peace Foundation, of which he is a founder, doesn't appear to have a website.

Here's an article he wrote about rainwater in Venice. And here's Anupam's recently translated book on the water systems of Rajasthan, "The Radiant Raindrops of Rajasthan" [PDF]. I skimmed sections of the book, and it seems like quite a resource for folks in the desert southwest. However, some of the prescriptions aren't technological, but social:

The sacrosanct line, which divides private property from common property, gets strangely erased when it comes to kuins [well-like structures that collect rainwater]. To each their own kuin; everyone has the right to construct a kuin and use its water. However, the kuin is constructed on land which is the collective property of the village. The rain which falls there remains throughout the year in the form of humidity and it is this humidity which feeds the kuins throughout the year. The amount of humidity present is determined by the amount of rainfall. Constructing a kuin in that area means sharing the humidity present there and that is why, though the kuin is a private property, since it is constructed on collective property, it falls under the control of the village society. It is only in case of dire necessity that permission is granted to build a new kuin.

Interesting stuff.

Rainwater harvesting pilot program signed into Colorado law

Governer Ritter signed a law which "establishes a pilot program for the collection of precipitation from rooftops for non-potable uses." CBS has a nice writeup.

This is a great step, but only the first one. You cannot start harvesting rainwater now; you have to participate in the pilot program, which will last for ten years. There will be only ten projects selected, and the program is only open to "RESIDENTIAL OR MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENTS THAT WILL CONDUCT INDIVIDUAL PILOT PROJECTS TO COLLECT PRECIPITATION FROM ROOFTOPS AND IMPERMEABLE SURFACES FOR NONPOTABLE USES". Here's a PDF of the bill, HB 1129. Us normal folks should check out the FAQ and links from the Colorado Division of Water Resources: "Am I allowed to construct a graywater or rainwater harvesting system in Colorado?"

But hey, it's a start!

Collecting rainwater in Colorado

Rainwater collection is often a key part of permaculture design. Permaculture calls for redundancy in resources, and water is a key resource. This is especially true in the American West and in Colorado, where the average rainfall ranges from 70-80 inches a year in a few mountain hideaways to 5-10 inches a year in the San Luis Valley (here's a PDF map of Colorado precipitation).

Collecting rainfall can use earthworks, such as swales, cisterns or buckets. But until recently, it was illegal to collect it. "You can direct it, but not collect it, according to [Paul] Lander", the executive director of Colorado Waterwise.

But, thanks to Chris Romer and Marsha Looper in the Colorado Legislature, some residents can now collect water:

The bill's sponsors figure about 300,000 people statewide will now be permitted to harvest rainwater, mostly the in rural areas who already have exempt wells for household and domestic use.

There is now a second bill up for consideration that would expand rain collection to new developments in urban areas. That would allow for a pilot program and the bill will be heard on Friday.

Here's a PDF of the bill CONCERNING LIMITED EXEMPTIONS FOR WATER COLLECTED FROM CERTAIN RESIDENTIAL ROOFTOPS and here's a PDF of the proposed bill, CONCERNING AN AUTHORIZATION OF PILOT PROJECTS FOR THE BENEFICIAL USE OF CAPTURED PRECIPITATION IN NEW REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENTS, AND MAKING AN APPROPRIATION IN CONNECTION THEREWITH (as far as I could tell--navigating the legislature's website was a real nightmare).