Tucson Harvesting Rainwater

everGREEN landscape architects points out the merits of harvesting rainwater to all its clients. Now, the Tucson (Arizona) City Council, along with the help of homebuilders, developers, and environmental groups, has drafted an ordinance that would make rainwater harvesting a requirement. The requirement would only apply to new commercial developments, but the ordinance has a lot of issues that need to be worked out before it becomes official.

In Tucson, the sight of rain is pretty common at this time of the year, and much of it usually makes its way into a wash.

In the harvesting process, rainwater drips down into two collection points and collects in a cistern. Then, that water can be used to do a variety of things, such as watering plants.

There are a few questions people have about rainwater harvesting.
One sticking points is that harvested rainwater would have to supply a minimum of 75% of a development’s landscape water budget. And according to landscaper Richard Underwood, “Cisterns are not real attractive, they look like mini-silos.” Also, some cost about $2,000 to install. Obviously, Richard Underwood hasn't consulted a landscape architect. At everGREEN landscape architects, we have disguished cisterns as focal points - an enormous urn or a boulder, both made of ferrocement. There are also cisterns that fit within a column (think columns over a covered porch). We've even seen a cistern disguised as a boulder among 'real' boulders. You couldn't tell the difference. The possibilities are endless... Talk to a landscape architect.

The Tucason City Council won’t vote on the ordinance until October. If it passes, the plan wouldn’t go into effect until June of 2010.