DIG ONLINE: Let it Rain - Simple Rainwater Harvesting Using Earthworks

Rainwater Harvesting doesn't have to be expensive or use cisterns and tanks to be successful in your home landscapes. Following the principles and guidelines in this class, along with some simple steps, new harvesters can get started with earthworks for successful passive rainwater harvesting at home.

Learning Objectives

• The Case for Rainwater Harvesting: Beneficial uses of rainwater harvesting, regenerating your landscape, working with nature rather than against it (slow, spread and sink), using water wisely, soil building and cooling, plant health.
• Long and thoughtful observation: Starting at the top of your watershed (roof), study how and where the water drains on your property?
• Do the smallest things for the greatest beneficial use. Start small, experiment, and evaluate the results and modify where needed. What’s working, what isn’t?
• Selecting the right earthwork for your situation. A review of various earthworks and what benefits they provide. (Berm n’ Basin, Check Dam, Diversion Swales, French Drains, Terraces)
• Maximize stackable functions through systems thinking. How many benefits can my landscape receive from one small change? (Shade, Water Conservation, Plant Health, Soil Building, Reduced Yard Maintenance)

Speaker: Master Gardener Hope Manross

Hope Manross is a Maricopa County Master Gardener and has worked with the Watershed Management Group helping to develop rainwater harvesting installations in residential homes since 2017, eventually becoming a Docent with their program in 2019. She completed her Desert Botanical Garden Desert Landscape School Certification in 2019, and has been teaching Cool Season/Warm Season Vegetable Gardening classes at Chandler Environmental Education Center every March and September since 2017. Prior to her retirement in 2016, Hope was a corporate trainer and instructional designer for Arizona Bank, Intel and Pearson.