My favorite places in Tucson to bring visitors

Gazing at Brad Lancaster's house and cisterns in Dunbar-Spring neighborhood

After a day exploring the rainwater and greywater features in our yard, the sun went down. We decided to harvest some tasty (and slightly sour) barrel cactus fruit to prepare for Watershed Management Group's Family Saturday event. 

Slice and bake barrel cactus leaving the seeds in place

The next morning, we were off to Watershed Management Group where I gave Lillie a quick tour of the Living Lab and Learning Center. Check out the chicken coop that Dan helped to build. The chickens compost the lab's kitchen and garden scraps so they can be used for fertilizer for the nearby food forest. 

Also on the campus is a big underground cistern that holds 10,000 gallons of water collected off of two roofs on the campus. The wooden hatch in the foreground is the access cover to the cistern.

And in the background is their stylish blue bathroom with composting toilets that provide humanure for the many trees at the Living Lab. 

Since Lillie is a civil engineering mayor with an emphasis on the environment, Dan figured she would benefit from an explanation of their water filtration system. The water pumped out of the underground cistern is filtered so it can be used for drinking. 

Those are just a few of the conservation efforts demonstrated at the Living Lab. You can learn about more on the Living Lab Tour. Dan might even be your guide! 

Always the trooper, Lillie was game for a tour of Brad Lancaster's Dunbar-Spring neighborhood. 

We saw a roadrunner enjoying a path shaded with native palo verde trees in rainwater harvesting basins.

On the path was a sign that showed BEFORE AND AFTER the rainwater harvesting features were installed. The area in front of Brad's house used to be nothing but hard, stark ground. Now there is a lush desert food forest and habitat for all kinds of desert critters! 

We were inspired by the community spirit in this neighborhood as well as the street art, rainwater and traffic calming features that the industrious neighbors installed. 

We saw the famous "garottage" (garage cottage) where Brad lives. Dan explained the passive solar that the positioning of the house provided. 

Sign explaining passive solar

I couldn't wait to show off the many rainwater features like the curb cut that directs water into the rock-lined catchment basin to water that native mesquite tree.

This is on the same street where Brad installed the first guerilla curb cuts that are now legal and eligible for rebates in Tucson and are part of neighborhood Green Stormwater Infrastructure projects being installed by the city.

Just look at all the shade this traffic calming chicane provides the neighborhood! 

Water from the street nourishes the native trees and plants in this chicane

Jeremy reminded me that they need to be able to explore for themselves.

Jeremy and Lillie explore a traffic circle that serves as a habitat for desert critters.

And make their own discoveries... 

But it always comes back to this...

We celebrated with a yummy dinner at the nearby La Indita restaurant on Stone. 

Then it was off for a well deserved day of fun at the Desert Museum!

Where Lillie made her own discoveries...

But we can't help to point out the reason that all of that water conservation matters. From a platform at the Desert Museum, we spotted the Central Avra Valley recharge basins. Our CAP water is pumped 326 miles from the Colorado River which we share with seven other states and Mexico - who are also suffering from a severe drought. 

Rainwater harvesting is one tool for water security in Tucson and helps to cool our neighborhoods. Since Tucsonans use 30-40 percent of their residential water on their landscapes, if everyone planted native trees nourished with rainwater we would save a lot of municipal water.

Central Avra Valley recharge basins from Desert Museum

It was great spending a few days exploring some of the most inspiring places in Tucson with Jeremy and Lillie! 

See our tour of my yard here:

https://www.sustainablelivingtucson.com/2024/05/sharing-my-passion-with-next-generation.html

To find out how much water you can harvest at home, try out this simple water budget calculator from Watershed Management Group.

https://watershedmg.org/water-budget-calculator

#lovemyrainbasin

Create your own Sonoran Desert Food Forest

Richard Roati's food forest

There's nothing like having a lush canopy of trees to enhance your life in the desert. Those trees won't just cool your house and yard (and cut down on your energy bill), but they will help cool off the whole neighborhood. Areas with trees are up to 12 degrees cooler than areas without. And those tree branches hanging over sidewalks make a nice place to walk your dog and socialize with your neighbors. 

You've probably seen gravel and cement in too many yards around town. While that may cut back on the water that would otherwise have been used for a lawn, that cement holds in the heat contributing to the heat island effect. Phoenix, with all its asphalt and cement, doesn't cool off at night! That's dangerous for plants, animals and people. Planting trees helps mitigate the heat island effect.

So...we need more trees in Tucson. But what about the water shortage in the desert? How are we supposed to water all those trees? I suggest we embrace our desert surroundings and plant low water, drought tolerant native trees with rainwater harvesting catchment basins. Native trees take little or no water once established. They include ironwood, palo verde, and velvet mesquite (not to be confused with non-native Chilean mesquite trees that grow too quickly and have been known to fall over during a storm.)

You can learn how to build your own basin at the free Rainwater Harvesting Rebate Classes offered by Watershed Management Group or S.E.R.I. 

Here's how my husband Dan (a docent at WMG) made our front yard basin...

First, he dug up two feet of  gravel and pulled plastic out of our yard.

Then he observed where the water flowed when it rained. He noticed that an awful lot of water was coming off the side of the roof and was causing erosion where it fell. So he dug a shallow basin in the middle of the yard using that dirt to build up a small berm with a gradual slope so the roof water would flow at least ten feet away from the foundation of our house and into the basin. (The idea is to slow down and spread out the water so it sinks in.)

Because they are on the south side, he planted three native trees far from the house on the high end of the basin. Then he planted some native bunch grass in the bottom of the basin and filled it with woodchip mulch. The roots of the grass along with the woodchip mulch create a sponge to hold the water longer. As the woodchips breakdown they provide organic matter to the soil that in turn nourishes those trees. How cool is that? 

Did you know that those native trees are also edible?  The ironwood and palo verde have yummy seeds. And dried mesquite pods can be ground into a delicious and healthy flour. As long as we have these edible trees, why not just go ahead and create a desert food forest? If you're gonna use water for a tree, you might as well plant something you can eat, right?  But creating a desert food forest provides much more than shade and nutritional food for your family and neighbors. If you do it right, it will provide a fine habitat and food for local birds and flowers for pollinators. And that makes it a lovely place to hang out.

Dan also created a little mesquite guild in our front yard by planting a hackberry bush under the mesquite tree. The mesquite acted as a nurse tree protecting the young hackberry from the sun. It also added nitrogen to the soil. Nearby is a prickly pear cactus that has edible pads and fruit! 

This year we got to try our first hackberry berries. The little orange berries tasted like a combination of cantaloupe and cucumber. The birds enjoy them too. 

In our back yard, we took advantage of our outdoor washing machine to irrigate low water heritage fig and pomegranate trees in our greywater basin.  Heritage trees are ones that have been here so long that they have adapted to our climate. 

Watershed Management Group also offers greywater classes. 

But my favorite rainwater harvesting feature has to be our jujube basin. We already had gutters and a downspout in place.

So Dan dug a long basin with three mounds along it where he planted jujube trees.  Native bunch grass and horse purslane serves to slow down and sink in rainwater, hold the mulch in place and prevent erosion. Jujubes are a Chinese fruit that look like little apples. Although they aren't traditionally from Tucson, we have found that these trees are really drought tolerant with their shiny leaves. I only watered them every other week in the hottest month of June. And I didn't water them at all during the rainy season. This is how they are doing now....

Coming from another part of the country, the first thing many people want to do is plant their favorite fruit trees from home. Totally understandable. Just do a little research and find out how much water those trees need so you don't overwater or underwater them. Find out how to take care of them in the desert. They may need some shade from our brutal summer sun and mulch to keep the moisture in the ground longer. Come up with as much water as you can from greywater (washing machine, bathwater, air conditioner condensate) and rainwater harvested from the roof. Take care of those trees, because when a tree dies in the desert all the water that went into it is lost too. 

Our friend Richard Roati has several big fruit trees in his yard. To offset his water use (and water bill) he has two big cisterns that collect water off of his roof. And he has hooked up water from his bathtub and his outside washing machine. All that water supports his citrus trees, carob, and jujubees. He has also started a nursery of native plants (including agave and cactus) that he has rescued in his neighborhood. We actually got our three jujube trees from him! Thanks, Richard! 

It's important to plant foods that your family will enjoy to prevent food waste and loss of all the water that goes into it. If you already have some fruit trees in your yard that you aren't gleaning, you can always call our local treasure Iskashitaa Refugee Network to come harvest them and prevent food waste. 

In conclusion, here are some recommended ways to put in your Desert Food Forest. 

1) Plant edible native trees and plants with rainwater harvesting (mulch covered) catchment basins. 

2) Plant low-water heritage fruit trees in basins with greywater from your washing machine, air conditioner and/or bathtub. Supplement that with rainwater from your roof directed to cisterns (water barrels). 

3) Plant durable, drought tolerant fruit trees in basins with water directed from your roof supplemented with some rainwater collected in cisterns (large rain barrels.) 

4) Plant a few of your favorite fruit trees that you can maintain with roof and greywater (maybe supplemented with very little city water.) 

To be really sustainable, it is important to calculate how much water you get off of your roof and various greywater sources and then plant only what you can maintain on that budget. 

Watershed Management Group has a calculator you can use:

https://watershedmg.org/water-budget-calculator

Like our friend Richard (pictured above) we do a combination of these four approaches in our edible desert forest.  

You can read more with Richard Roati in Exploring food forests in Tucson by Elena Acoba.

Check out the Mayor's Million Trees program. 

Velvet Mesquite - Arizona Tree Profiles: https://youtu.be/zi47emImvFw

Preparing the Soil for "ReGeneration: The Tucson Story"

art by Rihanna Gayle 

I click the link - Join with Computer Audio - like I've done numerous times while recording my virtual play ReGeneration: The Tucson Story. But this time there is a class full of teenage art students waiting behind their Zoom windows for me to be let in. Their teacher, Amy Wood from Sky Islands High School, introduces me. I scramble to recall what I had planned to say to inspire them to create art work for my play - starting with the story of why I decided to take on this ambitious project. I recount how I used to take my kids to the pool every summer afternoon to cool off from the hot Tucson sun. Inevitably we would end up waiting in the car until the monsoon storm had passed. But as the boys grew up, I began to notice that it didn't rain as often as it used to. I began to worry. What if Josh and Jeremy decided to stay in Tucson? Would there be enough water?

Then an event happened that changed our lives.  One fine fall morning, my husband Dan peddled off to enjoy Watershed Management Group’s Homescape Harvest Tour clasping a map of some yards that the co-op had worked on. When Dan got home, all sweaty and out of breath, he rushed me out the door to see some exciting examples of rainwater harvesting. I was especially blown away by WMG’s Living Lab and Learning Center where every plant on the property, including some fruit trees, were irrigated with stormwater. They weren’t using any city water! Docents explained how there was enough stormwater to fill every Tucsonan’s needs if we all “planted the rain.” Finally! A practical solution to making Tucson water secure!

 

For the last seven years, Dan and I learned everything we could about rainwater harvesting and sustainable living. He became a member of their co-op, spending every free weekend digging catchment basins in people's yards to sink in the rain and installing big water barrels to collect runoff from rooftops to irrigate native plants. I blogged about our adventures (and misadventures) in transitioning our own yard into a desert food forest.

Then we realized that despite our best efforts most Tucsonans still hadn't heard of rainwater harvesting. We needed to reach beyond our little Facebook bubble. That's why I wrote the play - to reach out to those who would be the most impacted by climate change - particularly young adults. Like those in Ms. Wood's art classes. We needed their help to make sure our play appealed to their generation. Fortunately, the students embraced the challenge and went to work creating the art that opens many of the scenes. We're thrilled to have them on our team.

art by Aiunae Thompson 

ReGeneration: The Tucson Story is about a diverse group of teens who bring their communities together to save Tucson as the climate disaster progresses. The cool part is that it was presented by a diverse group of teens inspired to share sustainable solutions.

To reach the teen audience, I needed to make sure that the dialogue reflected the way they speak. This was an issue because it had been a while since my boys were teens. A high school English teacher agreed to have her students look over the dialogue when they got back from Spring Break. Then COVID struck.

I continued to work on the script after my screenwriting group critiqued it. I was painfully aware that while the pandemic may have stalled my efforts, it certainly had not slowed down climate change. I decided that it was time to contact high schools and theater companies about producing the play. But they had problems of their own. Teachers were struggling to adapt to virtual classes. Local theater companies were working on ways to stay relevant. There was no time to read a play from an unknown playwright. However, in the problem was the solution. Drama teachers and theater companies started producing virtual (Zoom) plays. That was it! Inspired by their productions, I decided to produce a virtual reading of my play.

It was time for a leap of faith. I started a search for the diverse cast of 16. A friend introduced me to a drama teacher. She announced it to her class. I finally got a response from a bright young actress, Itzel Macias. She convinced a couple of friends from drama club, Ariel Cheng and Andrew Trever, to audition. They impressed me with their talent and enthusiasm! I cast them all. They were instrumental in getting this production off the ground becoming the first members of Team ReGeneration. 

Andrew Trever, who plays Alex, wrote in his bio: “I joined the ReGeneration project because as a young Latinx person it spoke volumes to me to be able to work with such a diverse cast and to be able to talk about a subject that affects me and the very town I call home.”

I strongly believe that our diverse communities need to work together on sustainable solutions if we want to lessen the impact of climate change. That theme is woven throughout the play. It was important that those voices be as authentic as possible. So I researched Tohono O’odham and LatinX cultures. To make sure I was respectful of their traditions, I had members of those communities give me feedback and incorporated their suggestions into the script. I made a concerted effort to cast the main characters with actors of the correct ethnicity. That was a challenge. After an exhaustive search for the Latino brothers, I finally spotted a PSA with a young man who looked right for the part of Rogelio. I tracked Eduardo Rodriguez down on Facebook and asked him if he would be interested in being in my play. I waited with anticipation as he read the script. He got back to me after a few days. Said he was fascinated with the sustainability aspects of the play. But it was the characters’ relationships that kept him turning the pages! He was definitely interested in the part. Only... one thing... he was a Pima Community College graduate. Somehow I managed to convince him that he could play 14 year old Rogelio. And I was right. It was fun watching his transformation!

As difficult as it was finding the young Latino actors, I knew I had a bigger challenge ahead - finding a Tohono O’odham actress to play Ha:san. Then it happened... a little miracle...I discovered a short video by a young Tohono O’odham woman who lives on the reservation near Sells. We connected on Facebook. I was so blessed to have Tierra Domingo in our production. We worked together to make sure her character and the T.O. traditions were presented accurately and respectfully. She even recruited her little sisters for the storytelling scene – all donned in their traditional Tohono O’odham dresses! Tierra recently shared her experience in her tribe’s newspaper, The Runner. Her dress inspired this drawing from Sisiki Bidelman-Owens, one of the art students from Sky Islands High School.

I am so proud of the talented and hardworking young actors who also contributed as the assistant director, stage manager, promoters, technical support and artists. We held all of the rehearsals and production meetings online. There were certainly challenges with using a virtual medium and a steep learning curve for me. But it was fun to work with this creative group of young people to find solutions. The teens were masters at coming up with blocking and using props in the limited space. Even separated in their individual Zoom frames you can see the comradery. They were also my advisers. When I was struggling with finding the balance between using authentic street dialogue and being culturally respectful, they shared valuable insights. They taught me how to be a better director and communicator. And I think they learned a thing or two. Throughout the rehearsal process, the teens discovered sustainability practices like rainwater harvesting and regenerative gardening. During the Q & A at our virtual premiere, some shared what they learned. Andrew said he's thinking of growing a garden! Plans are in the works for Tierra to speak at Ha:san Prep, a Tohono O'odham school here in Tucson.

photo by Javier Castillo

Speaking of the Q & A... There is another member of the panel I want to introduce. I was looking for an artist who could bring a teen audience to our virtual premiere and a friend recommended R3D. To be honest, I wasn't sure if he even wrote the kind of lyrics I needed. There were no songs about the environment or climate action on his page. The closest thing I found was a music video about the police inspired by what had happened over the summer called "Land of the Privileged." But when I pointed out that he still had eight days left to write a new song for the premiere, he took up the challenge. He wrote "Our World" super fast, in two days. I asked him why he was interested in this project and he responded, "I’m all about cleaning the earth. Saving the planet, we live in it and we must keep where we live clean. I also want my kids, kids, kids to have a better future but it starts with us. Therefore our kids will learn and continue to keep Earth clean so their kids future will be brighter than ours."

Listen in as R3D performs his new song, "Our World" and joins Tierra, Andrew, and Itzel on the Q & A at our fun-filled virtual premiere of ReGeneration; The Tucson Story now available on Youtube.

People are always inquiring why more young people aren't involved in our sustainability community. Sometimes they just need the opportunity to share what they love. Prepare the soil and plant the rain. Invite them to the garden. And watch them grow.  

More ideas on engaging the next generation here. 

Support Tucson's Green Stormwater Infrastructure Program

I am so excited about the City's Proposed Stormwater Management Program. Installing more Green Stormwater Infrastructure is one of the most impactful actions we can take to make Tucson water independent and secure in the future.  As a citizen advocate, I have attended G.I. planning meetings at the Pima Department of Environmental Quality. I'm so impressed by the incredible the work that the  city and county are doing to implement Green Stormwater infrastructure using guidelines by Watershed Management Group.  To really be sustainable, we need these systems to be built all over town and to be maintained.

The proposed green infrastructure is important for a sustainable future for Tucson.  Please, support the Proposed Stormwater Management Program and Fee by familiarizing yourself with their proposal and providing your feedback in the following survey and showing up at the Mayor and Council Study Session.  

Take this quick survey on the proposed stormwater project here.

UPDATE: 700 people participated in the survey. 80% were positive or extremely positive. There was discussion on extending the survey past the original date - September 4, 2019 (the date of the Mayor and City Council meeting.)

TAKE ACTION 

I encourage you to write your city council member to show your support. 

Find your city council member here:  https://www.tucsonaz.gov/gov/ward-maps

On September 4, 2019.the City of Tucson's Mayor and Council held a study session on a new funding program to support the development and maintenance of green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) across the city to reduce flooding, promote shade trees, along with many other benefits.

Catlow Shipek from WMG shared:

Thanks for your support! We had ~20 supporters in the audience which was acknowledged by the Mayor and Council members.

The motion proposed by Councilmember Durham and amended by Councilmember Romero passed unanimously to direct the city manager to implement the fee review process for a $0.13 per CCF volumetric water use (includes public notice and town halls) will include a fee equity review (comparison of larger commercial to residential) and not be applied to qualified low income customers.

We will be sure to keep folks abreast of developments as it will come back to M&C for formal adoption after the public review process. Here's to a more livable and sustainable Tucson!

More information: 

Scaling up Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) - Watershed Management Group

How Pima County is tackling flooding issues that come with Monsoon Storms - 9 on Your Side

"Finishing" Our Catchment Basin: Observing and Re-shaping

Yay! Our neighbors finally get a glimpse of what that "River Run Network" sign refers to. We just had our first downpour right after Dan "finished" our catchment basin!

As anyone who has taken Watershed Management Group's Water Harvesting rebate class can tell you, the first thing you do when you're gonna start an earthworks project is to observe where the rainwater naturally goes in your yard and where it puddles.... 

You can see from the photo (below), that rainwater comes down from the roof and puddles by our front door patio.

Notice: the scorched shrub in the middle. Since we are transitioning to a native food forest, we are replacing non-native shrugs with native ones. Our policy is if the shrubs make it through the hot summer without extra water, they can stay. This one did not.  You can see the durable Texas Sage to the right is doing well (partially due to getting water from the roof.) 

See how the water from roof has dissolved the patio. A reminder that we need to put in some gutters to redirect that rainwater where it can be used. 

Previously... Dan had removed A LOT of gravel and plastic so the water could penetrate the ground. 

He noticed that there was a subtle slope in the yard that was directing the rainwater towards the foundation of our house.  Not good!  But look how green the Cat's Claw  and bougainvillea are! 

He had to use a pick to get through the hard clay. 

Checking out the shallow basin. 

Dan got to use some of the red gravel he dug out of the backyard to make a decorative trail...

After putting in a path of red gravel, Dan saw that the basin still needed more shaping....

Hey, it's a process! A process of observing and adjusting to make the best use of the rainwater.

Dan used some of the gravel he had previously dug up to build a mound protecting our foundation with a gravel trail. 

While digging the basin by the little sage (and a dead native plant), we probably overdid it a bit...

Looks like we need a thirsty shrub in that basin! 

NOTE: You should never plant a native tree (like paloverde or mesquite) on the bottom of a basin that holds that much water. They could get root rot and fall over. 

So when shaping your yard to use rainwater, it's good to keep observing during the monsoon rains. (One of our favorite things to do anyway!)  

You can see from this video taken on Sunday, July 14th, that a lot of water is coming down from the roof over our carport. That water should be rushing out of the downspout. So we either need to clear out the gutter or install a bigger one.  Another project! 

A row of  edible jujube would go great where Dan removed the non-native oleanders! Mo' projects! Mo' projects! 

Our "finished" basin...

Well... until the next downpour informs us.