How to conserve water

[leon]

Do you usually rely on groundwater reserves to carry you through the dry season? In most places, there is a regulation about pumping groundwater. How then can we build sustainability and conserve water? Has anyone thought of or built a pond before?

 

[Charli1]

We have a pond on our property. It was here when I was a kid. I'm not sure how long it's been here. It has been dry a few times. I don't use the pond water to water anything though.

 

[Petal to the Metal]

I wouldn't use pond water for anything, I don't think. It's standing water, so I wouldn't want to use it for herbs, vegetables, or flowers. I have a rain garden which allows the water to percolate through the soil. I landscape with succulents and other plants that don't need a lot of water to survive.

 

[The Big Cowhuna]

I'm all about rain barrels myself. If it's raining, you'd better believe I have containers out to collect it, especially on paved areas where a downpour will just result in a bunch of surface runoff. I look at it as free water.

 

[Sam Carter]

In my opinion, rain barrels are an excellent way to keep water dispersed more evenly over land. If you have gutters, where does the run-off go? Specific areas of land, and that's it.

I've seen property where the owners cut and angled the down-spouts of their gutter to feed directly into their rain barrels. The spigot on the bottom had feeder hoses (those hoses with pinholes all along the length) attached and they can make the water go wherever they want it to with that set-up.

It can be costly to set up, but your land will thank you for it.