California’s water needs surpass its supply. In an effort to reduce increasing demands on limited drinking supplies and to prevent polluted storm water from flowing into the ocean, California Assemblyman Jose Solorio recently proposed AB 275, also known as the Rainwater Capture Act of 2011.
“It’s time we start thinking about what we can individually do in our own residential properties, as well as what businesses might do, in terms of capturing water on property voluntarily,” said Solorio.
The Rainwater Capture Act of 2011 will authorize end users to install rain water capture devices directly on their properties. Capturing rainwater in rain barrels and other catchment devices could potentially supply water for outdoor gardens and toilet flushing.
Previous methods to address water shortages, such as dams and groundwater basins, were typically expensive and environmentally unsustainable. “California has traditionally relied on expensive and large public works projects to capture and store water, such as dams and groundwater basins, and other forms of above-surface water-storage projects, but those projects are large and expensive,” noted Solorio.
Building dams and groundwater basins interrupts freshwater ecosystems and threatens the habitat of endangered species. Diverting water from freshwater resources compromises the water flow and the quality of these environments, potentially interrupting the cycle of mating and feeding of fish in these areas.
Ultimately, Solorio’s project places the power to conserve and capture water in the hands of end users. Micro-level efforts to conserve water can impact California’s water supply worries on the macro level. A combined commitment to use water resources efficiently can raise awareness of water scarcity and reduce competition for resources.
Rainwater catchment projects are typically associated with water projects in the developing world. But, as end users start to experience the effects of decreasing water supplies directly, innovative approaches to fill the gap in the supply and demand chain will be implemented in developing and industrialized countries alike.
As California and the United States at large begins rethinking water, the responsibility to conserve will be shared by end users, legislation passed by governing bodies, and municipal provider
If Solorio’s Rainwater Capture Act of 2011 is successful, will other states institute similar instruments that authorize end users to install rainwater catchment devices on private property? Better yet, will legislation be passed to require the use of water conservation technology by end users across the United States?
The photo above was taken by Biliana R.
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