Tucson Bringing Wetlanders to Dryland
April 14, 2007
Post Tags: Brad-Lancaster , desert-harvesters , drylanders , rainwater-harvesting , Tucson-Water , wetlanders , wetlands-management
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Tucson definitely has water issues, but probably not what you would think. The good news is there is hope. I’ve spent most of the last week reading and attending meetings and seminars on Tucson water issues and know I’ve just scratched the surface. There are some incredible efforts and result in Tucson when people stop thinking and acting like wetlanders and begin thinking like drylanders.
Wetlander thinking
- Rainwater is channeled off our homes,
- away from our property,
- out into the street,
- down the storm sewers and carried away
- Whew, now it can’t destroy our homes.
Wetlanders don’t think about landscaping or water usage beyond, “Is it pretty and do I want it in my yard”.
It is a multi-faceted issue. There is no single cause but there is a single effect. Tucson has miss managed its water resources. It is now more a desert than it has ever been in its recorded history. We have more than enough rainfall every year to sustain Tucson, unfortunately with our wetlander mentality we force that water to drain away in hours and minutes of its falling. We channel water down our streets and shooting right out of Tucson in a matter of hours.
Wetland Water Management
It is unfortunate but Wetlands management systems have been built to maximum efficiency in Tucson.
I attribute a lot of this to culture. Almost no one living in Tucson now or in the past has been from here. Many, many people have moved from much wetter parts of the continent and when they moved here they brought along with them their practices and culture integrating it with Tucson’s. However, when you bring a wetlands water management system to drylands it causes a scarcity of a precious resource.
I mentioned in the first post on Tucson water that I would be writing about the issue of Tucson water resources. I’ve learned there is much to be done. But it is all possible.
Becoming Drylanders in our Thinking
I can almost garantee that people in Tucson who want restrictions put in place on growth and water usage are just a much a part of this issue as the rest, they probably just don’t know it.
Tucson’s adequate water supply isn’t just about how much water we use or recycle. It is about how we manage the resources of:
- groundwater
- and rainwater
Here is where we can all make a difference.
The first thing we wetlanders have to do:
- Stop thinking like wetlanders
- Stop managing our water resources like wetlanders
- Start thinking like drylanders
This is where it begins, we can learn about rainwater harvesting, recirculating systems, homes designs and landscaping to restore our water supply. All of which is possible and is being done in Tucson right now, one home at a time.
I’ll close this post with a couple of websites that can help begin this process of shedding our wetlander attitudes and actions about water and begin thinking like a Tucson drylander should.
Brad Lancaster’s site is www.harvestingrainwater.com. Brad is a great resource for learning how to think and act like a drylander.
Desert Harvesters is another great resource on this issue of Tucson water management resources.
