Advanced Rainwater Harvesting

This hands-on workshop will encompass site assessment, design and full installation of a cistern storage system. Participants will gain the skills to critically think through a multifaceted approach to reading topography, assessing sites and designing systems, including calculating runoff and storage potential compared against water use to select and size appropriate water harvesting systems from the many options available.

Through the hands-on installation we’ll cover CA building codes, roofing material considerations, gutters, filtration systems, tanks, tank foundations, plumbing basics and the construction of a diversity of water harvesting earthworks. Everything we do will be nested in a larger framework of conservation hydrology – a watershed-based approach of ecological emulation, which offers the tools to fundamentally transform how we think about and manage our water resources, to shift from a paradigm of scarcity to one of abundance.

We’ll explore policy opportunities and funding sources to support the scaling of rainwater harvesting solutions, as well as tour existing systems, large and small, which offer a tangible glimpse into the “new normal” of water management in the West. The future is already here – it’s just not evenly spread out yet!

What You Will Learn:

• Critically think through designing water management strategies that increase the life supporting capacity and resilience of landscapes and communities.
• Conduct a site assessment and calculate water harvesting potential compared against onsite water requirements.
• Design and construct properly sized passive water harvesting systems, which include pre-filtration, tanks, and integrated earthworks to harvest overflow.
• Assess your sites’ location within the larger geographical, political and economic watersheds to assess existing and emerging opportunities for rainwater harvesting.