Water Harvesting 101

It’s early summer, which means that it’s crunch time in Tucson. The crunch comes from the sound of fallen mesquite and ironwood tree pods underfoot. They’re all over town–and maybe in your yard as well. What can we do with these pods? I’ll give you the details in this episode.

A day of record rainfall was indeed welcome in Tucson. However, the storm revealed a problem in my landscape. One of my downspouts directed water into my yard, but it didn’t stay there. A few feet away from the downspout, that water flowed into my driveway, then off my property. Once it’s off property, rainwater becomes stormwater, which can cause urban flooding. So, I’m making adjustments. I’m bu...

With the summer monsoon season starting on June 15 and running through September 30, it’s time to do the cistern math. If your cistern is below capacity and you’re hoping for rainstorms to come and fill it, how much water will you need? In this episode, I’ll walk you through the calculations.

Back in Episode 59, I announced that I was a gambler, a garden gambler. I planted a pre-monsoon summer garden. Now it’s time for an update. It’s a combination of gardening successes and failures, along with some much-needed problem solving and no monsoon rainfall–yet.

The National Weather Service just released its summer monsoon forecast. It calls for above average rainfall for the entire state of Arizona, especially northeastern Arizona. El Niño is also becoming a factor, which could lead to an active hurricane season. This episode discusses how the second activity of water harvesting, storing rainwater for later use, relates to the forecast.

This is an episode devoted to an organic superstar– mulch! This a layer of material that’s derived from carbon-based life forms like trees, shrubs, bark, and leaves. I’ll talk about the wonderful things that mulch can do for your yard and the plants in it, and explain how you can get mulch. Includes a special guest appearance by a wood chipper.

With the Southwest suffering through a long-term drought – and Colorado River cutbacks looming – it’s time to take a hard look at that thief in the yard. I’m talking about those water guzzling lawns, and why it’s time to remove them. Cities like Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Tucson are offering grass removal rebate programs. I’ll explain how these programs work.

After many weeks of saying that I wouldn’t plant my spring/summer garden until monsoon season, I relented. Because there’s nothing that looks sadder than an empty garden. In this episode, I talk about dry season garden setup, what I’m growing, and, of course, where that garden water is coming from. I also discuss the long-term weather forecast that motivated me to plant this garden.

There was a time when backyard swimming pools were synonymous with life in urban Arizona. Nowadays, one in six pool owners surveyed say they’d like to get rid of their pools. This statistic comes from PoolRemovalHelp.org , a website that guides pool owners through the removal process. In addition to summarizing the features of this website, this episode also takes a look at pool removal rebates av...

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 wat...

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...

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 su...

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 mu...

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.

As water harvesters, we use organic and inorganic mulches in our landscapes. Organic mulches are derived from carbon-based life forms like trees, and you’ll recognize them as bark chips and wood chips. Inorganic mulches? They’re more commonly known as aggregate or crushed rock. Which mulch should you use? And where? In this episode, we’re joined by Shota Austin from Tank’s Green Stuff here in Tucs...

At my place, nearly all of my attempts to plant wildflower seeds have failed. The simple truth is, Arizona wildflowers are persnickety about where they wish to set up shop. Being planted here is obviously not to their liking. Then came the brittlebush . Shortly after I moved in, I was told that brittlebush just wouldn’t grow in this neighborhood. That really disappointed me, because I really wante...

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.