[Scpg] Get out of the drain age, into the retain age

[Wesley Roe and Santa Barbara Permaculture Network]

Get out of the drain age, into the retain age
Deborah K. Rich
Saturday, December 6, 2008
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/06/HOTB1496GP.DTL&type=homeandgarden

Embedded in both urban and suburban lot design is the "pave and pipe 
paradigm," according to Brock Dolman, director of the Occidental Arts 
& Ecology Center's Water Institute. It favors grading, piping and 
paving properties to drain away rainwater as quickly as possible.
\
But rapidly draining water off landscapes rather than allowing it the 
time and space to soak in causes a host of problems downstream and in 
the pipes.

Culverts pour water into gullies and seasonal creeks, overloading and 
eroding the natural drainage area and rushing sediment into rivers, 
streams and estuaries, where it imperils fish.

Downspouts, gutters and sloping driveways conduct water into the 
storm water and sewer systems, which can dump raw sewage when 
overloaded. After we're finished draining our properties, we pay, 
increasingly dearly, to pipe water back into our homes and landscapes.

Dolman advocates replacing the "drain age" with a new "retain age," 
wherein we capture and store storm water for future use and resculpt 
yards and gardens to allow water to percolate into the ground.
To take a step into the retain age, consider harvesting rainwater 
from your roof and banking more water in your soil.

Harvesting roof water
Every inch of rainfall on 100 square feet of roof surface yields 55 
to 60 gallons of water. For a 2,500-square-foot home, that translates 
to 1,375 to 1,500 gallons of water per inch of rain. This water can 
be caught and stored in above- or belowground cisterns and used for 
drinking, in-house nonpotable uses or irrigation, depending upon what 
filtration systems are installed and upon local regulations.

For information on roof water harvesting systems, go to:
-- www.arcsa.org: The American Rainwater Catchment Systems 
Association Web site features links to a wide range of rainwater 
harvesting resources. Click on Resources to see the list.

-- links.sfgate.com/ZFOA: This page links you directly to the ecology 
center's list of articles and books on the subject (scroll to the 
bottom of the page).

-- links.sfgate.com/ZFOB: A "Renewable Energy Site for 
Do-It-Yourselfers" with links to information on roof water harvesting 
systems.

If installing a roof water cistern seems too daunting, consider 
cutting off the bottom of a downspout and sliding a rain barrel under 
it to catch a portion of the water falling on your roof. Use the 
water to irrigate your garden during dry periods between storms.

Several sites provide information on rain barrels:
-- links.sfgate.com/ZFOC: The San Francisco Public Utilities 
Commission's Web site has information on the commission's recently 
launched program to help San Francisco residents purchase rain 
barrels at a discounted price.
-- links.sfgate.com/ZFOD: A good description of how to build a rain 
barrel from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
-- links.sfgate.com/ZFOE: Find rain barrel as well as roof water 
harvesting information on this "Renewable Energy Site for 
Do-It-Yourselfers."

Harvesting water in the soil
Creating rain gardens, berm and swale configurations, and other 
landscape features that allow draining rainwater to safely infiltrate 
the soil can increase the beauty and productivity of yards, gardens 
and extended acreage while reducing the impact of downstream and 
gutter storm water flow.
Erik Ohlsen, owner of Permaculture Artisans in Sebastopol, offered these ideas:

-- First, go outside when it is raining and see where the water is 
flowing on your property. "Pay special attention to the downspouts on 
your structures and remember that the water in the downspouts is a 
resource. Is it just draining away into a pipe? Find out where it's 
going."

-- Then imagine the draining water being put to use. "Look around 
your property and think what it might look like if that water was 
entering the landscape."

-- Track the money and time you spend on your irrigation system, and 
look at your drought-stressed plants. "As you bring storm water into 
your landscape, those issues will start to go away."

-- Finally, remember that we're all in this together. "Think of your 
responsibility to do what you can on your property to reduce the 
amount of water that flows into storm drains."
Some practical advice:

-- Start with a shovel rather than a backhoe. Get a feel for your 
soil and water interactions before taking on a large project. Or pay 
for advice from someone who has worked with the soils, slopes and 
climate in your area.
-- The steeper the slope, the more strategic you'll have to be about 
what techniques you apply to slow water drainage. "It's not always 
appropriate to infiltrate thousands or hundreds of thousands of 
gallons of water on a particular site."
-- Geological surveys will help you understand how water moves 
through a property. On slopes where you have shallow soil resting on 
bedrock, you must be careful about harvesting too much water. If the 
soil becomes saturated and the water starts to sheet and flow on top 
of the bedrock, the soil can slump off and trigger severe erosion.
-- Spillways and diversion drains that conduct water to a rain garden 
or lower swale should be lined with rock to prevent erosion.
-- Design your project to handle the amount of water entering the 
landscape during the heaviest rain. "You design for catastrophe," 
said Ohlsen. "And then you go just a little bit more."
This article appeared on page F - 6 of the San Francisco Chronicle
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.permaculture-guilds.org/pipermail/southern-california-permaculture/attachments/20081206/f49ef640/attachment.html>