The day of the Rain Harvesting Workshop did not include any rain. In fact, the warm sunny January day was one of many such lovely gifts this winter. As a result of all this fine weather, we are experiencing drought conditions in southern Arizona. It hasn’t rained since before Thanksgiving. Learning to maximize the rain that we do get is critical.
The workshop, funded by a grant from Arizona State Forestry Division, and attended by 47 people, began at 9:30 with a talk at the Community Center by Kate Tirion of Deep Dirt Farm. Using slides and charts, she described the complexities of water and how to make best use of it in this climate.
At 11 a.m. a team of volunteers went outside and got to work. The main goal of the workshop was to create a French drain along the side of the building where water runs off the roof when it rains. Essentially a trench filled with stones, the drain absorbs the runoff, allowing it to slowly soak into the ground, thus providing more water for the trees in the area.
Natural mulch is another way to retain water in the soil to benefit the park trees. Another objective of the day’s workshop was spreading wood chips from the old cottonwood tree that had been cut down a few days earlier. A team also began the task of reshaping the drainage pattern in the park to conserve rainwater for the walnut trees. On the east side of the Community Center, volunteers put in beds where native plants will benefit from more runoff from the roof.
Brent Bowdon donated and delivered rocks, gravel and boulders for the French drain construction. Twenty-five volunteers, including several children and a few folks from Tucson, moved dirt, rocks, boulders, woodchips and gravel. They scurried about with wheelbarrows, shovels, picks and rakes. Around noon, David Briggle arrived with a small backhoe, and after that work sped up considerably.
At 1 p.m. Dave and Barbara Ellis laid out a potluck lunch of salads, cookies and hotdogs cooked on the grill. It didn’t take long for this fare to disappear.
Work continued through the afternoon, and, although there were still things to do at the end of the day, the projects were well under way. Funds for this undertaking were provided by the Urban and Community Forestry Financial Assistance Program administered through Arizona State Forestry Urban and Community Forestry Program, and the USDA Forest Service.