Water Harvesting Publications
April 01, 2021
As groundwater becomes harder to access in many areas of Arizona, risks and costs associated with groundwater wells have become an important economic consideration for property owners. Groundwater is considered a non-renewable water supply when aquifers do not recover enough from pumping to reliably produce water from the same level through time. Water may refill the aquifer very slowly, so...
March 01, 2021
Rainwater harvesting can provide a realistic source of water for homeowners living in remote areas or those who for one reason or another prefer not to use their groundwater inside the house. Local groundwater may have problems common in many parts of Arizona: high mineral content, naturally occurring elements such as arsenic and fluoride, and contaminants from various sources, such as...
August 17, 2020
Water Matters is the newsletter from Tucson Water included with the monthly Utility Services Statements to customers. The first item is 10 Ways to Harvest Rain.
Read the bulletin
August 01, 2020
Water conservation is an important issue in the Southwest. Many urban landscapes use native or desert-adapted plants to reduce the amount of irrigation needed. Harvesting rainwater is another strategy to supplement irrigation and reduce potable water use. Rainwater harvesting has become more popular in recent years for both commercial and private properties to conserve water. Other benefits...
July 17, 2019
Back in the 1980s, the University of Arizona operated a research facility near Oracle, AZ, investigating water harvesting and runoff farming. One of the products of their research was a Primer on Water Harvesting and Runoff Farming written by Gerald Matlock and Gordon Dutt. The authors were predicting the widespread adoption of water harvesting for agriculture as early as 1965, a...
May 01, 2018
The Roman Empire was known for many remarkable engineering achievements, including roads that straddled continents and aqueducts capable of conveying life-sustaining water into ever-growing cities at the heart of the empire. Researchers tracing the history of Roman infl uence in Great Britain, however, long wondered how one critical, remote outpost in the northern part of the country could have...