Imagine: Rain, rain, stored away

Savvy designers are helping homeowners collect and reuse storm water rather than see it all wash away.

By Debra Prinzing, Special to The LA Times
January 17, 2008

WHILE you watched much-needed showers race down the driveway and spill into street drains two weeks ago, did you perhaps think: How can I harness that rainfall? How can I save that water for a yard that has endured drought-like conditions? It turns out that "harvesting" rainfall is not only good for the garden, but also good for the environment.

And there are several ways you can prepare for the next major storm to keep some of that moisture in your landscape and away from the drainage systems. Increasingly, homeowners want strategies to capture and retain storm water, whether for irrigating the garden during dry spells or to divert it from gushing down the block.

In response, municipalities such as Santa Monica sponsor grant programs to help residents renovate their properties, and savvy designers offer solutions that are functional and aesthetically pleasing.

Peter Jensen, a landscape designer with Gaudet Design Group of Santa Monica, says rainfall isn't polluted until it hits the streets. "That's when it mixes with brake fluid, motor oil and gas spills that are concentrated on pavement, gets swept into the larger drainage systems and eventually spills into the ocean."

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