From Drought to Flood: Rainwater Harvesting at Work

With rain so scarce these days, it may seem pointless do rainwater harvesting. I imagine the neighbors scratch their heads at our sign "Rainwater Harvesting Basins at Work." But through the hot summer, that basin has become a refuge for wildlife. I'm amazed how many birds gather in our yard. Sometimes as many as 30 or 40. The birds peck around and manage to find something to eat in the remaining mulch. They particularly enjoy the seeds of the purslane I planted there.  

Here it is mid-September and we finally got two good storms thanks to Hurricane Mario. Needless to say, we are overjoyed! The rain has perked up our parched plants. The birds are enjoying the evaporative cooling sitting on the mulch after the rain. That sign finally makes sense. 

Every rainstorm is an opportunity to see if anything needs adjusting in the basins. This downpour uncovered areas where the mulch has gotten too thin and where the gravel berm needs to be reshaped after some plumbing work we had done. 

The area in front of the sign needs some mulch.

One of the issues of a long time drought is that native grasses and wildflowers die leaving behind parched ground. With nothing to slow down flood waters, any remaining soil and mulch is washed away. This year I made an effort to mitigate flood damage in the main basin by planting some durable pollinator plants and purslane that I kept watered. 

I also left the dried native bunch grass and dead looking globe mallow in the jujube basin.

They slowed the stream that rushed down from the roof while holding the "mulch" and soil in place. By mulch I mean the fallen leaves and globe mallow branches I had "chopped and dropped" in the basin.

NOTE: After watching the bunnies nibbling on the dried grasses, I regret cutting off all of the seed heads - a much needed food source for bunnies and birds.  I'm happy to see those grasses finally greening up and some horse purslane popping up since it rained. 

Dan and I are blessed to have several cisterns that got us through most of the long dry spell. Now they are full again and ready to get us through the hot days ahead. One more rain should fill up our overflow tanks too.

For the tanks that aren't connected to an overflow tank,  I have the challenge of deciding what to deep water before it rains again. That's a good challenge to have.

And there is always a little maintenance after a big rain - like replacing mulch and building up leveled berms.

Yesterday I built up the berm around our volunteer fig trees in our little veggie garden and added more compost to replace some that had been washed away. (I hand water them with rainwater from a cistern, so the berm helps contain the water.)

I just love any excuse to be out in the yard listening to the happy songs of the birds after the rain.

Prompting Purslane Season

This summer has been the driest on record so far, with less than 3 inches of rain, and hot, with several days over 110 degrees and often remaining unseasonably hot late into the night. Not so good for plants!  I have been watering my recently planted pollinators every other day to keep them alive until the start of monsoon. I've even had to water my little veggie garden before going to bed at night to keep it going until morning.

Our first purslane usually pops up after two monsoon rains. But this year we never got the promised big monsoon. I was watering the area under the bird cage daily - in hopes that some sun chokes I planted last year would return. No go. But purslane came up instead. Last year I had planted some as a cover crop and they had spit out seeds.

Here it is on July 28th with the little yellow flowers which means it is going to seed. 

We harvested the purslane for breakfast five times so far, washing it over a bowl to catch the seeds. Then I poured the seeds where I was already watering. 

You can see where I left the roots and a bit of the branches to grow back. And the seeds have spread beyond the cage. Yes, I water my weeds. 

They grew big enough to harvest...

After washing them, I added the leaves and stems to some sautéed onions. 

Note: they shrink like spinach.  

I made a yummy breakfast scramble to celebrate the purslane season I had prompted. 

While it took some effort to keep my purslane alive, a large patch of it popped up along the side of a nearby restaurant. AC condensate off the tile roof? I grabbed a bag full before the landscapers could poison it with Roundup and planted it in my dry rainwater basin.  I hoped it would go to seed and spread like the round-leafed horse purslane had on rainy years.

I have been watering it daily to keep it going during this scorching weather. 

I found a big clump on Speedway that I carried home and planted.  I was looking forward to it spreading a lot of seeds. After watering it, it was already getting yellow flowers. 
 

But then I looked out the window and saw a flock of birds going to town on the seeds. 

I thought about rushing out to scare them away. But we had really built this basin for the birds. Besides, I was having a great time watching them. (These pics through the window don't capture the frenzy. lol)

I guess the birds took the Plants for Bird sign literally...

And the bunnies... Don't forget the bunnies. 

More about purslane: 

https://www.sustainablelivingtucson.com/2016/06/obsessed-with-purslane.html

Stories in the Wash

We live an a little midtown, middle class neighborhood with cute brick houses that were built in the late forties. It boasts a small park that closes at 8pm. The Arcadia Wash runs through the heart of the neighborhood. If you walk along the arroyo you will get glimpses of the stories of people who have lived there: clothes, bedding, and trash. Like many Tucson neighborhoods, we have our share of unhoused people. I've lived here for 30 years. Raised my boys here. Never really saw a problem with the unhoused until I became president of our new neighborhood association and listened to neighbors' concerns.

One concern was the trash build up from the campers in the wash. We responded by adopting the stretch from Fairmount to Speedway. At our first wash clean up 35 people picked up 80 bags of trash. My husband took load after load of trash to the pick up spot with the help of a young man living by the wash. Unfortunately, the area near Speedway is a "hotspot" for drug deals, so that area was soon littered with more trash.

When the city passed an ordinance prohibiting the unhoused from camping in the wash, many neighbors expressed concern about where they would end up. Some residents had already experienced problems with the unhoused in the easement behind their homes, going to the bathroom on their back wall, doing drugs, starting fires and destroying property. An elderly woman was frightened in the night by an unhoused man banging on her bedroom window demanding water.

Pinecrest leaders met to draft a response to the ordinance. Each participant was given a chance to share their stories about the unhoused. Two hadn't had much contact, but expressed that they wouldn't feel safe with them near their own homes. Zoraida, the administrator of Desert Sky Community School, shared some personal stories about dealing with unhoused loved ones. Her stories really hit home. On my walks, I'd met people who lost their homes and were still living in their old stomping grounds. They are our neighbors.

Then I shared my story... One morning I discovered a young man sleeping just outside my garden with his coat over his head. Feeling pressure from my next-door neighbor (who had planted prickly pear to block the unhoused from the easement), I asked the young man if he was planning to camp there. He replied, "No. I'll be moving along." He refused the water I offered and left. Later, a Facebook friend suggested that he may have just aged out of the foster care program and had no place to go. I still feel bad about not offering him more help. What if it was my child? 

Our fear of the unhoused is hurting everyone. There are no public restrooms because people don't want to encourage them to stay in their neighborhood. Where are they supposed to go? People chop down trees so they don't camp under them.  The police remove them from one area just to have them pop up in another. There must be a better, more humane way.

I spoke to a shop owner who was being robbed every day. Thieves would fill up the shopping basket and escape into the wash. One time she even closed down the store and chased after them. Recently, she mentioned that she had managed to make friends with one of the unhoused. He told his friends not to rob her because she was a good woman. They actually stopped stealing from her. Could this woman be onto something? 

I've heard of another neighborhood that had succeeded in creating a relationship with some campers living in the nearby wash. The campers agreed to clean up after themselves and were living in harmony with some of the residents. One woman even left her hose out for them to get water.  Could that work in our neighborhood? 

Reflecting on all the stories, I have mixed feelings. I want the criminal activity out of our neighborhood. But it's complicated. Not all unhoused are criminals. They all have their own stories. My husband and I started the neighborhood association to build community and to look out for each other. But what constitutes a community? What if we tried to form a real relationship with the campers? Could we find a way to live safely together?

I asked my brother, an addiction counselor in Missouri, for his thoughts. Would it be possible to have that kind of relationship with the unhoused? He said that it would take time to build trust. They have been hurt so many times. I would really have to be there for them for the long haul. I asked him where to start. He suggested that I ask what they needed. 

First meeting

Soon after that I got an opportunity to try that approach. I was watering some prickly pear pads I had planted along the wash (to keep drug addicts from that area near the school) and I spotted a couple of campers on the other side of the fence. I asked them how they were doing and that's how I met Dan. This skinny young man brought out my maternal side. I expressed how worried I was about the monsoon rains coming. One summer a young woman had been swept away in a sudden storm.

I also urged them not to start any fires in this dry season because neighbors were worried about them so close to their houses. (A nearby tree had caught on fire...) I reminded them that it is against the law to be too close to the school. And they seemed genuinely concerned when I shared how the teachers had to do a sweep of the area for needles before bringing the children there for a nature walk. Dan assured me that he wasn't doing drugs anymore and promised not to start any fires. He said they just want to be good neighbors.

I remembered what my brother said about being there for them. So I asked if there was anything I could do. They requested that I contact the city about not allowing the police to bulldoze their camp before they had a chance to grab their belongings. I was upset to hear that they have both felt harassed by the community resource officer. It was my understanding that community resource officers should build trust with the homeless in order to refer them to the correct organizations to help them. 

Second meeting 

I came back to let them know that I had contacted our rep at Ward 6. I yelled over the fence for Dan, but someone else answered. I asked if there was anything I could do for him. He asked for money for food, but I didn't have any money on me.

It bothered me that I didn't help him after offering. The next day I gathered canned food, cut up some melon and boiled some eggs. I also filled some glass bottles with ice water. I went around to the other side of the fence and approached the campground. This was the first time I had entered that area by myself because, honestly, I was afraid to go near them. But I marched right up there armed with my bag of food and water. Dan was in his tent with his dog resting after picking up trash in the hot sun. He and another camper, Brennan, came out when I took out the food. They were grateful - especially for the cool melon that they immediately dug into.

They said that the Community Resource Officer had posted an eviction notice. They were supposed to be out of there in a day, but now they might have until Tuesday to pack up their things.  During our neighborhood wash cleanups, we had assumed that the unhoused had trashed the place. But while I was there a big white pickup truck came by to dump trash on the lot. The campers said that was a regular occurrence. It looked like they were cleaning someone else's mess. 

After a long heart to heart about being good neighbors, I said I could look into them being allowed to stay. On the way home I ran into their friend coming back from bringing several loads to the dumpster a block away. He said that he had thrown up three times from the heat. I asked if there was anything I could do. He requested a rake. 

That night I contacted our rep from Ward 6, and asked her about looking into the possibility of campers being allowed to stay. She called the Housing First people and found out that they had already been offered services in the past. And they had previously been starting fires and probably doing drugs at the time. Because it is privately owned property, the city can be sued if they do any damage. So they would be removed Tuesday. The wheels had already been set in motion. She was afraid that something might happen to me. But I wasn't afraid anymore. I was sad that it didn't work out for them to stay. I hope they accept some services this time.

Third meeting 

I returned to bring the guys ice water and an old rake. The only one there was their friend who was exhausted from spending all day cleaning the area. I asked him why he did it if the city was going to take down their camp anyway. He said he felt responsible for protecting the area. Since I had been kind to them, he opened up and admitted that they were all still addicts. He shared his story about how it took him months to get on AHCCS to get into a treatment center. Unfortunately, it didn't take. He said that Dan felt bad for lying to me - but he really wanted to stay there. I was relieved to hear that Dan was considering finally getting treatment. 

Fourth meeting

Tuesday morning I went back to make sure that they were treated Ok while being evicted. There was no sign of the police yet. Dan was in his tent with his dog. This was the first time I saw him high. Brendon explained that he was upset about leaving. Brennan's wife Elizabeth gave me a tour of their area. I took in the little details that made it a home - a dog dish, water bottles, a bird house hanging near the tree that shaded their tent, a scavenged teapot lamp that Brennan had brought her for a gift.  Brennan was busy planting seeds along an area that he had raked up and lined with rocks. I asked him why he was doing that when he was being removed that day. He said he likes to leave an area better than when he came. Yes, it was their home. How could we ever think that a bed at a crowded shelter could take its place?

In an email wrapping up the effort to the Pinecrest officers, I admitted to feeling foolish for believing the unhoused were clean and putting my good name on the line to stick up for them. While I wish I wouldn't have rushed into believing them, I am still glad I made an effort to create a relationship. Of course, that takes time. If only I had started earlier. As for me, I still want to come from a place of love, still bring food, water and kindness. I'm sorry I didn't really get a chance to hear their stories before they were pushed out.  I often think of Dan, Brennan, Elizabeth and their friend. I hope they got the help they needed.

Note: I asked Brennon if it was alright if I included them in a blog and he said it would be good for more people to learn about their situation. 

UPDATE 9/4/2025: I ran into Dan today. He was in another area of the neighborhood. He helped me pick some goat head weeds and trash at a nearby church. 

Signs in the Wash 

(Poem with pics)

https://tucsonwashart.blogspot.com/2018/08/blog-post.html

Summer Vacation Survival Plan for Our Plants

Like many times before, the weather forecast called for rain. But this time our eucalyptus tree was swaying frantically in the wind and dropped a branch. Dan rushed outside to clear the gutters so we could harvest every bit of the long awaited rain. 

We were hoping to get a new cistern connected before we left on a family trip to Wisconsin the next day. And now we were racing the first storm of a delayed monsoon season, too. 

Dan had ordered some parts to connect a 425 gallon cistern to collect the overflow from our 200 gallon tank. During a heavy rain, the 200 gallon tank wasn't big enough to hold all the water that flowed from our neighbor's huge roof.  Hoping to get the cistern installed before the downpour, Dan had made a soft bed of sand for it to sit on and rolled the 425 gallon cistern in place on plastic pipes.

Unfortunately, the necessary parts didn't arrive before we had to leave. Neither did the rain. 

It finally rained 0.03 inches on July 2nd, just after we left for our trip. We were sad to miss it. 

But preparations for the trip had begun days before. Our "drought tolerant" plants were already suffering from weeks of extreme heat.108 degrees the day before we left on our trip! If my precious plants were to survive for the 11 days that we would be gone, I would need to deep water some - even if that took some city water.  I left the hose running on low to deep water my scorched palm tree and the surrounding agaves a few days before. 

Our droopy Mexican honeysuckle (that usually lived on rinse water) got similar treatment. 
 

I used the remainder of the rainwater in the big 500 gallon cistern to deep water the struggling pomegranate, curry, and moringa trees.  

(Dan drilled 2 small holes in each of the 5 gallon buckets to release the water slowly.) 

 

Our poor moringa had suffered greatly from the long dry winter, and the freeze (among other things.) It just needed it to make it until the monsoon rains started - when we knew it could grow 6 feet.  We gave it 15 gallons of rainwater the day before we left and covered it with shade cloth to protect it from the July sun.   

But I was really worried about my new pollinator plants (Arizona foldwing and spiderwort shown below) that needed nearly daily water in this heat.  Of course, being planted in the rain basin doesn't do a lick of good if it doesn't rain. 

Luckily a new friend came to the rescue - offering to come over daily and water those special plants and some recently planted veggies and newly sprouted herbs in our little garden! That was a great load off of my mind. 

So off we went to Wisconsin to hang out with family. 

But being the water nerds that we are, Dan did a presentation on "A Story of Water in the Desert" for Sustainable Tucson while we were there. 

We needn't have worried about not harvesting that extra rain in the overflow tank. It hadn't rained much while we were away. Sadly, the basin was bone dry, but everything in it survived thanks to the loving care of our neighborhood angel.

Dan went right to work hooking up the new cistern. 

Just in time, too! Three days after we got home we got three days of rain! 1.03 inches worth!

The spiderwort pollinator bloomed in the basin...

The Mexican honeysuckle plumped right up with orange hummingbird trumpets. 

The moringa has grown a foot so far...

The first big rain refilled our 500 gallon cistern, so we needed to use up some so there would be room in the tank for more. 

Jar collects every last drop in the hose

After deep watering the fig tree, pomegranate, moringa and curry, we went ahead and gave the mesquite on the high end of the basin 6 buckets of rainwater, even though we normally don't water it at all. After all, it was supposed to be a big wet monsoon this year.... 

 

We celebrated collecting all that rain with a new sign: "This Home Harvests the Rain." 

#lovemyrainbasin