Why isn’t Los Angeles harvesting the rainwater from these storms?
January 21st, 2010
Photo via Flickr: Biofriendly
By the end of this week, four severe storms will have pummeled Southern California, flooding the streets with rain as heavy as 3/4 inch per hour and even producing a tornado that touched down in Huntington Beach (how’s that for evidence of climate change?). The rain is pounding on my roof as I write this, and all I can think is, what a waste.
The city of Los Angeles spends $1 billion a year importing water from far-flung sources like the Colorado River, and half of that potable water is used to irrigate people’s lawns. Does anyone see the irony here? Millions of gallons of water are pouring from the sky right now — for free — in an area of the country that has been suffering a severe drought for the past three years. And we’re just letting it all wash out to sea. With all the motor oil, pesticides, trash, and animal waste it picked up along the way, I might add.
While the city has taken great pains to save water with its two-day-only lawn watering rule, and should be applauded for helping residents to cut water consumption by 17 percent last year, I’m amazed that rainwater collection hasn’t been seriously enlisted as part of the solution. The annual rainfall in LA averages 15.5 inches; if every home in the city could harvest this, it would equal 9,600 gallons per home a year — that’s nearly a quarter of the water a year used to irrigate a 1,000-square-foot lawn.
LA started a rainwater harvesting program in July of last year, but it’s in the pilot stage and only includes 600 property owners. We can only hope that the city hustles up and expands the program to harvest our precious rainwater. Climate scientists are predicting that America’s Southwest is only becoming drier, and we’re going to need to save every last drop.
–Jennifer Grayson
Do this now: Click here to read how to capture rainwater yourself, courtesy of environmental nonprofit TreePeople.
Related posts:
Avoiding bottled water at the airport
Update: Save water, pee in the shower
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January 21st, 2010 at 5:41 am
It breaks my heart as I see all of this water flowing into our storm drains. The Dept of Public Works just passed a Low Impact Development ordinance that will require people to add water capture when remodeling or doing new buildings – which is awesome! And it was a fight to put through, as developers opposed it.
But we can’t wait for legislation! You can buy your own rain barrel for $125 or less and any idiot can install it. Redirect your rain gutters to your landscape rather than hardscape – then the water filters into the earth and our ground water supply.
More heartbreaking is the number of homes I have seen this week that never turned off their sprinklers.
The City is us – not just the government!
January 21st, 2010 at 8:48 am
You are so right, Sherri. It is up to us to change the city, though it would help to have some extra incentive from City Hall. I was amazed when I attended a LADWP California Friendly Landscape workshop last summer; four hours about various sprinkler regulators and a bit of discussion about drought-resistant plants, but not a single mention of rainwater harvesting! I’m thrilled to hear about the Low Impact Development ordinance — thanks for the update.