Working with the Earth to Use Water Wisely

• Published in: Earth first! (1991) 2009, Vol.29 (3), p.24
• Main Author: Woelfle-Erskine, Cleo
• Format: Review
• Language: English
• Subjects: Best management practices; Lancaster, Brad; Nonfiction; Rain; Water resources management
• ISSN: 1055-8411

Volume 2 introduces the "Eight Principles of Successful Rainwater Harvesting" through the philosophy of Zimbabwean water farmer and philosopher Zephaniah Phiri Maseko. The principles range from the procedural, ("Begin with long and thoughtful observation") through the practical, ("Slow, spread and infiltrate the water"). While touring Phiri's extensive hand-dug rainwater catchment system in 1995, [Brad Lancaster] had something of a revelation. Lancaster's hometown of Tucson epitomizes a pattern familiar to environmental activists. Rainwater Harvesting succeeds both in showing readers how to design and construct cheap, effective systems to capture and infiltrate water into the landscape and in motivating them to do it. Lancaster avoids math, jargon and machinery ("Start with a shovd and a few friends") and explains in great detail how to conceptualize and construct an integrated water harvesting system. Dozens of drawings, diagrams and photographs illustrate how water flows through the watershed of small urban and suburban lots; how to construct earthworks such as the "berm 'n basin" (aka swale), terrace, French drain, and infiltration basin; how to tear up your curb, sidewalk or driveway (and replace it with a water harvesting structure); the importance of mulch and vegetation; and how to intervene in the broader landscape using brush dams and other erosion control structures. Appendices cover how to read the landscape for evidence of water flow, simple explanations of key equations, plant lists and more.