The True Story of how one California family reduced their water usage and continued to grow food, in the long hot summer of 2009 …

by Louisa Aronow

Copyright 2009 L. Aronow

Why??????????????

This is Lake Mendocino, where we get our water, after two summer of drought.

I studied how much water do people use at home…...

USA average - 70 gallons/day/person for personal use (266 liters/day/person)- 100 gallons/day/person with irrigation (380 liters/day/person)

City Of Ukiah – 50 gallons/day/person voluntary water reduction

did not include growing food

OUR HOUSE - 44 gallons/day/person from local water district in June

-33 gallons/day/person in July!!!!!!!!!!!!

How did we reduce our water use?

•CONSERVATION•GRAY WATER •RAINWATER

We used dish water for flowers in the garden and shower water in the toilet.

Of course, we took shorter showers and didn’t waste water in the kitchen. Water from washing vegetables went outside to the potted plants.

Carrying water outside has the added benefit of extra exercise every day!

Planning the garden for water use is essential !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The ornamental plants are gradually being replaced by drought-resistant native plants. We thought about how much food we get for

the water used, and decided not to plant corn or black-eyed peas anymore. We will expand the winter garden next year, and grow

more potatoes and fava beans to utilize the rainy season

California native plants have replaced thirsty flowers in

this bathtub.

Some plants didn’t get water and they weren’t happy.

All veggies got lots of MULCH!!!!!!!!!!!!

We watered by hand, close to the plants.No more overhead watering in the sunshine.

Wonderful Washing Machine Water

• Water from machine is diverted outside• Only biodegradable, low-sodium soap is used• Dirty water can be diverted to the septic line if necessary• No diapers at our house• This is now legal in most of California!

In October 2008 we made a ditches near the young trees behind the house and filled them with

woodchips.

Now the dirty washing machine water drains onto rocks, then flows into the woodchips for the roots of

trees to access. Woodchips filter and clean the water.

Water from the bathtub goes out to the woodchip ditches also. The apple tree is

happy.

In November 2007, I heard Brad Lancaster speak about rainwater

harvesting. His information totally changed my concept of landscape

design and water use.

He said:“Turn water scarcity into water abundance!” Brad Lancaster, author of Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond

RAINWATERIn January 2008, we started a super low-

budget rainwater collection system from the roof.

We were very happy with the results!

• You can collect approximately 600 gallons of water from 1 inch of rain on 1000 sq. feet of roof

• That’s approximately 1000 liters of water from 10 millimeters of rain on 100 sq. meters of roof

In the summer of 2008 we put in a 2,600 gallon water tank with filters and overflow

areas.

Next winter we’d like to make some upgrades ….

• Fix leaks in gutters!• Get more water storage

containers• Greatly expand the winter

garden• Plan the garden with berms and

basins to retain rainwater in the ground for as long as possible

• Plant more drought-resistant, food- producing shrubs and trees

And next summer we’ll need some upgrades also …

• Get irrigation dripline that works with low water pressure, so stored rainwater can be used more easily

• Plant garden areas closer to water containers

• Make a bicycle-powered water pump to get water out to other garden areas

Perhaps some of these ideas will help you save water and

grow delicious food, too!