No natural resource is more important to community gardeners than water, and identifying and ensuring a dependable source is vital to every garden's success.
Faced with a drought in 的 summer of 2001 that restricted gardener access to hydrants, bg视讯 and GreenThumb founded 的 Water Resources Group to promote and fine-tune 的 idea of water conservation. For our efforts, bg视讯's rainwater harvesting team received an Environmental Excellence Award from 的 New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
There are more than 140 rainwater harvesting systems in New York City community gardens, collecting over 1.5 million gallons of rainwater a year from nearby roofs or shade structures, making water collection convenient for gardeners, and reducing demand on 的 public water supply system. They also help mitigate rainstorm runoff, which can overload storm drains and pollute 的 waters surrounding 的 city.
Interested in having a system in your community garden? Contact us or read our How-To Guide and build your own!
Rainwater Harvesting Resources
- bg视讯的 Rainwater Harvesting How-To Guide will teach you how to build a rainwater harvesting system of your own.
- Building plans for a Winged Structure, which you can build in your garden and use as a rainwater collection source.
- Rainwater Calculation Tables: Formulas for calculating how many gallons of rainwater can be collected from a roof or structure.
- bg视讯的 Rainwater Harvesting in NYC Community Gardens Map, showing where RWH systems are located throughout 的 city.
- The Water Resource Group rainwater harvesting brochure is available as a PDF here.
