Fighting Drought With an Ancient Practice: Harvesting the Rain | Retro Report 

In Indonesia there is an old man fighting for water conservation by plant a lot of Banyan trees on a barren mountain, amazingly after a few years it was done so many watersprings spring up from places that used to be dry. We called him Mbah Sadiman, you can find his success stories on youtube. Let's protect our water.

In Tacoma, Washington it is illegal to collect the water from your roof because it belongs to the county. They also charge a "storm water fee" to pay for the storm drains on the streets. I ran all the downspouts into the old, unused septic tank and stopped having to water the back lawn. Of course I didnt bother the city asking for permits.

this reminds me of the role of beavers on North America and western Eurasia. To capture the water during the rainy season, to slow down the surface flow and associated erosion, is vital. “Making water go further” means fundamentally altering regional hydrology with some quite simple steps: especially saving rainwater!

This is normal in Australia because our water, utlities etc have all gone up so much in price.....It's actually cheaper to sustain yourself with solar electricity, harvesting water etc.

We Indians have Baolis aka Step-wells and temple/field tanks, in Odisha, we call them Pushkarinis( from Sanskrit), and Pokharis/Gardias(in Odia) from the 3rd century BCE times, as in Khandagiri and Udayagiri regions of Bhubaneswar. Basically, rain water was collected at a higher place and made to flow through small canals into farmer fields or made stagnant into pools for public and temple uses. Even, dams constructed by Kings like our kings Prataparudra Deva in the 13th centuryAD, for instance. They all still help in water conservation.

I've been doing rainwater catchment for over 15 years here in KS. I was born and raised in Tempe AZ so my life was focused on the real scarcity of water. I wish more people would do this. It just makes sense. We can't wait until there is a crisis, we need to do it now so there isn't a crisis! Thank you for sharing this!!

Amazing! Sometimes going back in time is better than futuristic ideas.

This is awesome. I couldn't get fresh water for my plants and then I realized and started collecting water from air conditioning outlet of neighbors to water my plants.

Rainwater harvesting is great, the only problem is people usually think too small. In my country we collect rainwater from the whole roof and store it in underground concrete tanks. My house has 3000 sq ft of catchment area and 19,000 gallons of storage. We should have built even more storage volume because it frequently overflows in the wet part of the year and occasionally runs low in the dry part. We get 55" of rain per year.

I'm in Australia too and have a rainwater tank connected to the gutters from the roof to supply my house as there is no town water. We've been doing it for many, many years. We also have swales instead of gutters in our streets in some areas that feed water into lakes down the road from our houses that attract native wildlife and allow plants to grow. We also have toilets that use less water. This is normal for us.

my grandparents in Ireland had an above ground cement tank collecting water from roof down pipes. Served through an electric pump. It was used for bathing and dishes but not drinking. An open well, nearby, filled w spring water, always cold, was crisp and clear for consumption. All off-grid, except for electricity. Propane gas tanks for cooking stove in the kitchen. Coal buring range for heating water and baking or cooking, also heated linen closet and serviced radiators.

Over here in Cape Town, South Africa, I dug a trench (swale) to catch water and put it back into the ground. I am the only one in my neighborhood to do this. The thing that bothers me is that Cape Town city is drilling into the aquifers with no idea how to recharge them. Politicians are short sighted and a large problem with all their in fighting instead of trying to work together. About 4 years ago we almost ran out of water in Cape Town and when the drought broke almost everybody reverted to their old ways of doing things. In Namibia they have recycled water for a long time and put it back in use and 40 years ago I told some engineers that we need to do the same, nothing happened. Politics and money got in the way, to do something 40 years ago would have been cheaper than to catch up now.

Singh is a credit to his people and for that matter all people.

This is so weird to me because most houses in Australia have water tanks as standard home features, we have a 5000 litre and 20000 litre tank which is pretty normal. Great to see the US is finally embracing the idea.

Supposedly, when the bison covered the western plains, they would dig numerous small pond. Counterintuitively, these ponds, despite exposing water directly to the air, actually conserved water, compared to the grasslands they replaced. An acre of pond, after all, has only an acre of surface area exposed to the air. But an acre of grassland has all the surface area of the grass, and some of the interior spaces of the grass -- much more area. Don't recall the name of the book where I read this, but the source of the historical information and modern analysis seemed authoritative, and the explanation seemed to, um, hold water.

We need more ppl like him

Water is such a precious resorce & we squander it daily. Love the 'ripple effect' of the community led, hands on education programs. 🌱🌳🌴🦋🐞🌻💖

I have watched videos years ago, showcasing large scale reclamation of barren soil and land, by means of catching fog, as well as building terraces that slow water flow and allowing it to sink in where needed. Based on that, I have been patiently waiting on a property to shape myself and since last year, I have been doing so. Not only catching rainwater, but also soil composition is a huge task, but the sooner we start to fixing things, the sooner we have a positive impact. Slowing down water is step one. Now you have moist soil that can turn into organic matter (by means of adding scraps and food waste). Let nature do the rest. It is VERY addictive and results become apparent within a year!

This is AWESOME, both what the Indian gentleman did in his "neck of the woods"and what Brad has done in Tucson, something similar needs to be done here in central Mexico, and was surprised to see the Water agency CEA, even offer help and advice on how to take advantage of the rainy season and catch the rainwater. Although 2022 was a drought year, only 8 days worth of rain vs.90 days worth in a normal rainy season, we could really make a difference and not pipe water in from a poor region here in my state with broken promises by politicians to better the life of those rural residents living there.

When I was renting on land in Florida,the dripping of air conditioner was continuous. I planted a lime tree to catch the dripping, a good way of watering plants, In southern Florida, an air conditioner produces 5 to 10 gallons of water daily ,

I'm in SoCal (next door state and 6 ish hour drive from Tucson) and started Rainwater collecting and Harvesting last fall. It was so much better to use it because it's free, it's from nature providing down and I can use it to water my plants and garden. I bought a 50 gal tank and it got overfilled pretty fast. This year I'll be getting another 50 gal for this year's harvest.

A water garden. Every school needs one. Beautiful. I will research this. ❤

Amazing how these people used the ancient tech of “digging a hole” to retain water. I’m blown away. We have so much to learn from their ways.

I live in a rainforest. This is so impressive how these people are dealing with their water challenges. We just call it "liquid sunshine" here on the west coast of B.C. Canada.

Dr. Singh is amazing! And Mr. Lancaster did well to build on his wisdom

People have farmed very well in the Sonoran Desert for over 4 thousand yrs. Sustainability is possible with logic and care, and many other folks like Brad. Tucson is smart.

My father used indigenous methods to grow the vegetables to feed our family of six. And we always watered at night and collected rainwater in trash cans and barrels. It’s really easy, though it would have known some of the methods of getting the water to the plants shown here.

I cried , too. The change is here!!!!❤

I'm old so I'm somewhat educated about when the well runs dry, we had to haul our water from a spring for many years. No money to drill a well beyond the hand-dug well. Today, I have a well that never goes dry, and yet, I still recycle water. If I wash the vegetables in water, I use that water for my vegetable gardens. We always caught the water in rain barrels. I was upset when town ordinances claim all of the water from the sky and made those catching water, deemed as criminals. I'm glad some people have found a way around this type of control. The tarp is a good idea if you haven't any other access to water, use the tarp to funnel the water into a holding tank or whatever you have to catch water. 03:54 I also have an outdoor shower, which I love more than the two indoor showers. I enjoyed this video. Well done~

I grew up on a farm in the Midwest and had relatives that were ranchers out West. We farmed very hilly ground and could not irrigate. We only had what rain fall came down. I am Swedish and my family left a very poor area and immigrated to America and settled. We were sustainable before it was a buzz word. We consulted my Great Grandfather about problem areas and how to fix them. I am 56 and probably the last to know how to improve the soils and recharge the subsoil moisture in the hill's. We learned that it takes the plow and disk to fix some things and terraces, water ways and ponds to fix others. Sometimes you need trees and plants to absorb water from areas that lay stagnant to keep the rest of the water clean. No one wants to listen today and thinks that they are so much smarter and that Science proves that the old ways were wrong. One day when they can't figure out how to fix these issues and try and turn back, the knowledhe and those who kept it will be gone. We produced almost as much dry farming hills as those who irrigate and waste money on chemicals today.

Here in Lancaster, PA I made it a goal to accommodate all rain that fell onto our property by using rain gardens and rain barrels. Because of our location we can also receive our neighbor’s driveway and roof runoff and some of the roadside drain water is directed into our street-side rain garden. All this supports fruit trees, native shrubs and vegetable and pollinator gardens. Very fun! Thx for promoting wise use of rainwater.

Proud of you using the rain properly!❤❤

Such water Harvesting techniques have long been engrained into the Indian Culture be it in form of Bawris , Johads ,Jhalara, Tankas , Kundas and Baolis. Even Indus Valley civilisation sites like Dholavira had at least five baths and the size of one is comparable with the Great Bath of Mohenjo-daro. Keep up the good work!

I have harvested water for the past 20 years, made a move and now again. Nothing like rain water! 😊❤

Love this! We need more people doing this here in the southwest or we will be in trouble. Great to see that Brad is always out there working hard. Thank you for the video!

I agree. Love this! We need more people doing this here in the southwest or we will be in trouble. Great to see that Brad is always out there working hard. Thank you for the video!

This has a big benefit, cooling down the area. The greener the surface of the cointry the better

many old homes had copper holding tanks for rain water, and many farms had holding tanks also. no downspouts without barrels. progress.

Amazing! Sometimes going back in time is better than futuristic ideas.. Amazing! Sometimes going back in time is better than futuristic ideas..

NO MORE LAWN MEANS NO MORE LAWN COSTS AND NO MORE AIR CONDITIONER COSTS. About 30 years ago I reforested the lot around our house. When we purchased the house it was a typical grass lawn with two trees suburban home. I initially planted 60 young hardwood trees throughout the yard and 90 Burford Holly bushes around the perimeter of the property. Looking at a house as having four walls and one roof I concluded that 4/5ths of the heat was coming through the walls and 1/5th was coming through the roof. The roof was getting direct heat and the walls were getting direct heat plus reflected heat reflected from the lawn. .My reasoning was the trees would stop direct sunlight and the Holly bushes would stop reflected sunlight hitting the walls of house. Before the trees and Holly bushes grew to their current size we had to run the air conditioner 24/7. This gave us a power bill close to $400.00 a month. In spite of the high power pill, it was unable to cool the house to a comfortable temperature. I made a few modifications to the house by adding roofed decks around the back and front entrances, to block the heat coming into the house through the doors, plus replacing the small window in the upstairs bedroom with French Doors plus a small roofed deck. The French Doors effectively took out most of the upper bedroom wall allowing the heat rising from the lower floors to escape. As the trees and Holly Bushes grew providing more shade the electric bill came down. Now the house is surrounded with a forest canopy and we no longer use or need the air conditioner. Our electric bill has been reduced by almost 75% and is currently $110.00 a month. The forest canopy is filled in to a point where the house can no longer be seen from the street. The property forestation is completely self sustaining and does not require watering, chemicals, mowing or any other human intervention.

Interesting. I live in England where water shortages are not usually a problem. BUT, 2022 was the hottest Summer ever, one day 44C out the back of my house in England's green & pleasant land - usually. My garden & plants only just survived precisely because I have three water storage tanks, recycle / reuse all waste water. It was a close call, with all my stored water tanks empty before the Autumn rains came. (But this year, all the plants and WEEDS are coming back with a vengeance.) Its definitely going to get worse in the future. I have seen many integrated farms in Thailand with water storage, wells to refill the aquifers, use of food/fruit trees to shade the ground, big storage ponds in which fish are reared, Tilapia being bred in the rice fields whilst flooded. Water conservation is the norm in other parts of the world.

Please keep up this work, hopefully this will be on the national level, not only one state or city.

We need this all across the Southwest even where I'm at in Colorado

I wish more people could see that the earth was prepared with enough! We just need to be more efficient in how we store and use resources. Great job in Tucson. I've looked at many projects around the world and am amazed at the ingenuity of people. It gives me hope because I've always believed that people are the answer to the challenges of life, not the problem.

On farms in UK I remember seeing up the uplands ponds called Dew Ponds. They were scraped out areas, sometimes natural, that caught the morning dew or rain to make watering places for the cattle. Mainly on high grassy areas like the south Downs of Kent and Sussex.

"Everyone around us, they're part of the potential of this place" A resounding *yes* to that one. Permaculture is about involvement. There is basic democracy in localised action. What a great example Lancaster's leading role is for other neighbourhoods!

Couple this with planting trees where it is too steep for rainwater harvesting catchments to protect from dessicating wind and solarization. Where the terrain starts to get shallow use small, frequently placed checkdams, bunds, swales, etc to slow and soak in water. Soil and biome-appropriate plantlife protect the water from evaporating while recharging both the land it is near, as well as the land down stream. While trees trnspire water the carbon they sequester helps purify water and help the soil to soak in water while also retain it. The pollen they release helps clouds to release their moisture back to earth. A good general mix of plant life also prevents wind dessication and solarization and as well as carbon. It all works together.

In Cochise county during the early 1950-1960s every valley farm had dirt water revisors for capturing rainwater! Now these dirt dams are very rare. Local people have forgotten how this works.

Proof once again how one man or woman can make a huge difference. Well done for all concerned!

Finally, a piece of good news.

Absolutely love this! It is so important for all of us to understand that conserving and preserving our natural ecosystem is not a very complex problem that we project it to be, ancient traditional knowledge has been preserved very efficiently without science and technology and we love how they embrace it. Adding the video to one of our playlist to keep inspiring more people ~Team planet cents

Unfortunately rain harvesting is illegal in some states in the US. Like Colorado and New Mexico. You can usually get by anyway, just don't draw attention to yourself.

One of the only times I am pleased it so often seem to be raining here in the UK even in July now (whilst some of mainland Europe seems to be up to 40C this week)........ Even so need to keep all our trees and preserve water where we can. Having 18m more people here than when I was born (and 600k record net immigration to the UK) is making things much harder here - we are so crowded, far too many people here and on the planet - now up to 8 billion on the planet.

This isn't sustainability, this is regeneration! Just incredible to see neighborhoods and the city embracing this.

I wonder how people are so unaware of rain water harvesting. You may be living in a high tech city but without water you cant survive.... Rain Water harvesting is very much necessary

0:18 seconds in and I already see the first problem, everything paved.

"Pray for water" is the type of thinking that got you where you are.

One of the extremely important lessons that should be learn at school because water is life giving life sustaining water is essential

In North America, you can also wild out more beavers. Saving storm and grey water for greening your cities is a great idea and the cherry on top would be making these new plants edibles. If you want to improve temperature control plant grape vines, nasturtium, and other edible plants that make great green cover. One thing every community must learn first, though, is that the "water conservation" preached in America (do not use water but rather keep it in low evaporation storage) is not a good idea. You have to circulate it.

Give these people millions and get this information mainstream.

The Power of one!! 💚🌻

Can surely tell that this gets your soul because the little girl is just overcome with emotions when they speak of the importance of her job to show others how to do this. Now and in the up-and-coming future . She is a light for us in the darkness of disparity that people feel right now towards Mother Earth and Father Sky. Water is her lifeblood and she knows in her heart that she is an important part of that continuance. Keep up the good work you are the custodians of your future.💦🌌✌️❤️🌌🌠🌏🌎🌍🫵

In Colorado, the state is ordering the removal of 100s of ponds (i.e. johads) in the Arkansas basin - two steps forward, 3 steps back . .

I love this! I already collect as much as a can in rain barrels. Where can a person find someone to help her do this as a system?

Pretty cool, I'd like to see/learn more about it. Where I live in Virginia, we seem to have plenty of rain. But still I have 5 rain barrels with about 50 gallons each of water.

A great step in the right direction! Thanks for sharing this. I live in South Florida, & we have a feast or famine type of situation with our rain. I use a catchment system for the garden that has eliminated the need to use city water for my yard. Outdoor shower for cooling off on these scorching summer days is next.

Heck yeah this is beautiful and so good for everyone and our land under all our feet. When Aaliyah teared up at the end, that really touched me too, kids really want to make a diifference and they definitely are doing so. Just beautiful to see🥺 Loved what Jesus said about the making it equitable and sharing this knowledge that most all of us are a bit starved of for too long now🌏

"so this becomes part of the practice" moving words.

My parents home in south India they harvest rain water. They have a tank for 35000 liter water. They have pond as well to swim.

Nice work! The world needs more of this

Sir Singh thank you for your hardwork. Human, animals, tree need water

Thank you for the information. have been trying to find ways to save water.

Great solution depending on the soil composition. I digged a hole 6 meters in diameter with more than 30 cubic meters capacity. Fiĺed iy with water and all water drained in a couple of hours

This channel consistently has had interesting and thought-provoking pieces ❤ The production value is off-the-charts, as always

In a lot of states here, it's illegal to collect rainwater. The claims water from any and all sources belong to the state. So, you can be fined if you do collect rain water. Oregon has had this law for years now.

We can change drought lands into gardens. Need this in Texas.

LOVE THIS!!! One word of advice, If you ever get a water harvesting tank/barrel... If you live in an area that freezes, they do NOT always expand like an ice tray. They get huge cracks, usually at the bottom. TFW $50 rain barrels explode :(

Dr. Rajendra Singh is waterman of india, he has spent his life working on water that too in Rajasthan

Always love seeing new stuff with Brad! Thanks!

Wonderful work! What beautiful results in the environment and the people

Thank you for sharing. It's very inspiring!

Another place to find water harvesting techniques is on islands. Places like Key West have a finite supply of fresh water, so houses had built-in water harvesting and storage.

Incentivizing rainwater harvesting. Genius! I love Brad!s book!

This gives me hope for the future, and with new methods that will work in Cincert with whatever one person has created, and with 10:59 the new ideas coming in regularly, it will become an intuitive system helping many more people. I can visualize Tucson becoming a “garden City, and with people growing one, two or three kinds of fruits or vegetables can share and trade with other people growing two or three, or more. And if everyone saves seeds, or also share plants, it will begin to feed more people, and with more variety, which improves health. There is no limit to the possibilities.

THANK GOD FOR PEOPLE LIKE THESE!

So, glad I watched this video ❤

This is amazing effort!

Thank you for sharing.

Yes,more of this.

Fantastic video, and interesting informative comments, too. Thank you!

yes, yes and yes. amazing job done

Wow, what a great story.

I would suggest visiting the Dunbar-Springs neighborhood to see examples of Brad's ideas. Other resources in the Sky Islands region of AZ for water use models are Watershed Mgmt Group in Tucson, the Mission Garden in Tucson, Borderlands Restoration in Patagonia, AZ and The Center for Sustainable Agriculture in Ajo, AZ. The Old Pueblo has a very strong sense of place.

Very inspiring!

Arizona had a huge amount of snow last year when that melted didnt it provide a lot of water for the rivers and streams. Its wonderful your catching rain water. Im in the Grand Canyon this summer and driving around i thought why dobt more people do this.

Beautiful!

Aloha! This amazing information packed video is an answer for me. I AM inspired. I need an eatable-garden in my backyard. I need to make my water work for my future garden. Asante 🌄🌍🌙

great work, keep it up

Isn't it amazing how going backwards to ancient times we are actually going forward. Man thought he could improve the old ways but this proves it is not better.

Many Many thanks for good job's