Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District John Green, Lead Scientist July 2016 Water conservation strategies

Principles 1. Conserve! Be smart about water use, and you will use less 2. Collect and store water when it is plentiful Rainwater catchment Storage tanks 3. Get water into the ground. Avoid practices that concentrate water Embrace practices that disperse and infiltrate water

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle…

Reduce, Reuse, Recharge

Reduce… Overall water use Indoor water efficiency Low-flow fixtures Efficient appliances

Reduce… Overall water use Indoor water efficiency Low-flow fixtures Efficient appliances Outdoor uses Native or drought-tolerant plants Efficient irrigation

Reduce… Demand on extractive sources Water storage Alternative sources Rainwater

Rainwater catchment basics

Is it legal to capture rainwater? California Water Code §1201 All water flowing in any natural channel… is hereby declared to be public water of the State and subject to appropriation in accordance with the provisions of this code. State Water Resources Control Board If you take water from a lake, river, stream, or creek, or from underground supplies for a beneficial use, the California Water Code (Division 2) requires that you have a water right. (

Rainwater catchment basics

Target volume: How much water do you need? Collection capacity: How much water can you collect? Storage capacity: How much space is available to store water? Do other constraints exist? Costs: How much will the infrastructure cost? Rainwater catchment basics

A 1,000 ft 2 roof area will shed 623 gallons of water for each inch of rain that falls on it. So… in a 25-inch rainfall year, a 1,000-square-foot roof sheds nearly 16,000 gallons of water.

Water storage

Water quality Rainwater is very pure to start with Contaminants usually derive from the roof or other catchment surface

Water quality Gutter and downspout screens

Water quality Gutter and downspout screens First flush diverters

Water quality Gutter and downspout screens First flush diverters Additional filtration is generally not necessary for non- potable uses

Reduce… Reduces reliance on extractive sources of water Water supply security Diversification Independence Cost Protection of natural resources

Reuse… Why do we use high-quality potable water drawn from extractive sources for purposes that don’t require it?

Reuse… Greywater systems Laundry-to-landscape Non-potable indoor uses

Recharge…

Runoff!

Runoff Flooding Water pollution Reduced recharge Channel incision Erosion Degraded aquatic habitat Aquifer damage Recharge…

Runoff Flooding Water pollution Reduced recharge Channel incision Erosion Degraded aquatic habitat Aquifer damage Less water available during the dry season Recharge…

Sources of runoff Compacted ground Impervious surfaces Roads Recharge…

Sources of runoff Compacted ground Impervious surfaces Roads Recharge…

Sources of runoff Compacted ground Impervious surfaces Roads Recharge…

Sources of runoff Compacted ground Impervious surfaces Roads Recharge…

Sources of runoff Compacted ground Impervious surfaces Roads Recharge…

Sources of runoff Impervious surfaces Compacted ground Roads Recharge…

Sources of runoff Compacted ground Impervious surfaces Roads Recharge…

Sources of runoff Impervious surfaces Compacted ground Roads Recharge…

Identifying solutions

Water conservation to reduce overall demand Identify alternative sources Construct water storage to address the temporal mismatch between supply and demand Identifying solutions

American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association ( Russian River Coho Water Resources Partnership (cohopartnership.org) Salmon Creek Watershed Council ( Sanctuary Forest (Mattole River) (sanctuaryforest.org/water-stewardship/) Handbook for Forest, Ranch and Rural Roads ( Resources