It's that time when the desert shifts into the dry, foresummer. That's right, there are two summer seasons in the Sonoran Desert. Following a very dry, hot May and June, around the fourth of July, towering dark clouds herald the next season: monsoon! Refreshing cloud bursts in the late afternoon bring desert rats running outside to greet the blessed rain. Washes and streets run like rivers and catci drink in the moisture with networks of shallow roots that capture the water.

In Tucson we are learning the ancient art of water-harvesting. Brad Lancaster, our local guru for rain catchment and grey-water irrigation, is teaching legions of people and kids how to harvest rain water for use irrigating trees that produce food and plants that create what he calls a "sponge" of roots that create spaces in the subsoil into which the rainwater seeps down rather than runs off.

Brad's first book, Rainwater Harvesting, will soon be followed by Volume II. Go to his website to learn more about how to harvest rainwater and about Brad Lancaster, a man who is making a huge difference in the quality of life for Tucsonans and the kids who are coming who will need that most precious resource - cool, clean water.

There are no other people who appreciate the blessing of fresh water more than desert rats.

http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/

Susan