My drive to the office today was a bit stressful. Our first real rain of the season came in last night, and with it, blustery winds and a constant downpour. It looked beautiful from the comfort of our living room this morning, as I gazed out the windows at the hills and valleys of my town, watching the hummingbirds disregard the showers to get their drinks from our feeder.
But then I went outside. Got blown around and a tiny bit soaked. And drove – very slowly, very carefully – through freeway traffic.
It wasn’t just the scariness and inconvenience of driving through a rainstorm that got to me. I look at rain differently now.
When I see rivers and mini-lakes of water in our streets, I don’t just think about how to drive or walk through them or around them. I think about where that water’s going.
I learned two important things about water runoff a few years ago, when I first started getting into this whole ‘green’ thing:
- Pollution - Water running down the street is picking up all the toxic chemicals we put there (oil, gas, pesticides, etc.) and swishing it right into the body of water it’s heading towards – in many urban areas, that’s the nearest ocean, bay or lake.
- Waste - The water that’s being whisked away like a slip ‘n’ slide down the street isn’t able to sink into the ground where it fell as rain. So natural cycles of localized rain and absorption are disrupted. For example, an inland town’s groundwater isn’t replenished when the rain gets shot to the ocean miles away.
I can’t stop the rain, but I can prevent water runoff in many other ways – and you can too! Here are my top two water-wasting pet peeves that are easily prevented:
- No DIY car washing! Most carwashes are regulated and must treat, conserve and recycle water. Car owners who wash their own send gallons of soapy water down the street.
- Don’t use a hose when you can easily use a broom to sweep off sidewalks, walkways, and steps.
- Bonus: When watering your gardens or lawns (using a hose, sprinkler or irrigation system), be aware of water that is not hitting your plants and then fix it. Sidewalks and driveways don’t need watering.
The EPA also provides a great overview of stormwater runoff – problems and solutions.
What do you do to conserve water? What’s happening in your community – water runoff, drought, floods, or smarter development and sustainable measures?
