Los Altos Town Crier
27 May 2009

After three years of drought, California faces another water crisis. Unusually warm weather in April has eroded the Sierra snowpack, the source of much regional water. Reservoirs are low for the third year running.

This is unlikely to be a statistical blip. Water demand in California is rising each year, and sources of water are drying up. Global warming models show California will become a much drier place in our lifetimes. Not only is rain likely to decrease, but we are also expected to lose up to 90 percent of the Sierra snowpack by the end of the century.

Water is already a big problem for the state, but a problem largely beyond public awareness. According to the California Energy Commission, 20 percent of the state’s electricity is used for the treatment and pumping of water.

Groundwater pumping has greatly diminished underground aquifers. In some parts of the San Joaquin Valley, soil level has dropped 50 feet due to the removal of groundwater. Every single river in California has been dammed, decimating fish populations, including endangered Chinook salmon. Two of the five most endangered rivers in the United States are in California.

This is not your grandchildren’s problem. Very soon, water will become a precious commodity. Sadly, you’d never know it by the way we are pouring it down the drain. A typical household has potable water piped in from a local water supplier. Fully one-half of this potable water is used for irrigation, where potable water is unnecessary. Nearly all the remainder is used for nonpotable water needs in the house, where it is then flushed down the drain to a local sewage treatment plant. Much time, money and energy is spent treating greywater like raw sewage.

This makes no sense.

Following are two ways to reuse water already available to us.
Divert your greywater

Create a greywater system by diverting water from sinks, showers and laundry to your landscaping. Most folks use a simple pipe or hose for diversion. The addition of a mulch and/or gravel filter, often planted with grasses, creates a robust and clean system.

Unfortunately, California’s greywater laws are backward and excessively fearful of the possibility of spreading pathogens. Abundant research has shown that sponges, keyboards, doorknobs and other people are the most likely sources of most contagions. In fact, there has never been a documented illness in California from greywater.

The net result is that virtually all greywater systems are installed without permits. Fortunately, recognizing the state’s antiquated perception of greywater, local jurisdictions are increasingly passing laws to make it simpler and cheaper to design legal greywater systems.
Rainwater harvesting

Rainwater from your roof can be harvested and reused for irrigation by diverting your downspouts into a storage container. Rain barrels and other relatively small storage devices can be implemented, but they tend to fill and be depleted quickly, as the average roof diverts 10,000-15,000 gallons of rainwater a year.

The best methods involve large aboveground or underground cisterns that hold about as much water as your roof will deliver. This water can then be used in the dry season with the help of a simple filter and a solar-powered pump.

Another great way to handle rainwater is to build a pond for storage. A clay-bottomed vernal pond can be a nice water feature in the yard and acts as a wetland habitat for birds. Wetland native plants can create a visually spectacular space that will spice up your yard.

Water is the great giver of life – don’t let it slip through your fingers.

Forrest Linebarger is CEO of VOX Design Group Inc., which specializes in green building. Linebarger writes and lectures on sustainable living and green design.