Water-wise isn’t just about using less water, it’s about being really smart with the water we do have, especially the free kind that comes right from the sky. As evidenced by the memorable storms of this winter, rain events are predicted to become more severe and less frequent in our area, meaning that we’ll receive occasional surges of valuable but potentially destructive water. How can we re-vision our developed landscapes to more effectively utilize the gift of rain?


Here are three methods for DIY rainwater catchment that can make you a water-wise warrior and a model to your friends and neighbors.

1) Slow it’ with rain catchment systems

The simple installation of rain barrels, tanks or cisterns off of your home’s rain gutters is becoming a relatively mainstream concept, with information and materials readily available in your local hardware store.  There are many ways to go about designing your system so that is can effectively store a whole season worth of rain, or just individual rain events. Depending on your storage capacity this free water source can be used for irrigating your landscape during dry months, reducing both your water bill and perhaps your guilty conscience at the same time. To give you a sense of how much rain you can collect: a 1000 square foot roof will shed 600 gallons for every inch of rain that falls!

2) ‘Spread it’ with mulch applications

The unsung hero in the garden landscape; mulch provides numerous benefits besides the aesthetically pleasing ‘finished look’. Adding a layer of mulch to your garden can help cut down on erosion, minimize compaction of soil during heavy rain events, maintain soil temperature, replenish organic content of soil as it breaks down and prevent weed growth. In the case of organic mulches like woodchips, having a high water-holding capacity creates an additional storage space for excess water until it can be taken up through soil and plants. Generally applied to lawns, sheet mulching is a process by which compost, cardboard and woodchips are added to the landscape in thin layers creating more surface area to spread and capture rainwater on-site, while reducing weeds and increasing soil fertility as it decomposes.

3) ‘Sink it’ through rain gardens and bio-swales





Download the official ‘Slow It. Spread It. Sink It. Store It!’ booklet (PDF)