In October of 2008, the city of Tucson, Arizona became the first municipality in the country to require developers of commercial properties to harvest rainwater for landscaping. The new measure – approved by a unanimous vote by the City Council – requires that new developments meet 50% of their landscaping water requirements by capturing rainwater. The new rule goes into effect June 1, 2010.
While environmentalists had pushed for a 100% requirement, the city chose the 50% requirement after developers expressed concern that a higher percentage would have required the installation of expensive cistern systems.
The ordinance will reduce stormwater runoff, said Brad Lancaster,a nationally recognized rainwater-harvesting expert who lives in Tucson. Lancaster said he hopes the new Tucson ordinance will inspire other municipalities to follow suit.
Members of the development community – which was represented in the stakeholder group convened by the City Council to work out recommendations for a rainwater harvesting ordinance – were supportive.
Councilman Rodney Glassman said the popularity of the measure is due to the inclusiveness of the process that created it. Before drafting the ordinance, the Council convened the stakeholder group, which included interests representing builders, developers, environmental groups and others, to work out a proposal that would be acceptable to the community.
Tucson also offers tax incentives to encourage residents to use rainwater harvesting. Other local governments, including Santa Fe and Albuquerque, N.M., require new homes to use rainwater harvesting, but not commercial properties. Today, rainwater harvesting is mandatory in places like Bermuda, parts of Australia and New Zealand, and there is a thriving rain catchment industry in Texas, Hawaii, Arizona, California and Oregon. In water-scarce regions where fish populations have been decimated and are on the verge of extinction, there are no excuses for ignoring this effective conservation technique.
Read more about collecting rainwate
Stacey Meinzen has a broad range of experience in climate change policy. From her work with ICLEI doing a municipal greenhouse gas inventory to her news coverage of climate change for Flex Your Power's e-Newswire, to her research on climate change policy for Green For All, she has absorbed a range of views and interests about the best way to deal with this complex issue. Her primary interest is in local solutions that can be executed with sound policy to support them. She founded ClimateActionPlans.com to highlight key green projects and the programs and policies that allow them to happen.