Harvesting road water to rehydrate & regenerate a high desert town

Van Clothier, co-author of "Let the Water Do the Work", shares unique and effective strategies to affordably harvest stormwater & snow melt runoff from, and divert sediment off, both dirt roads AND steeply-sloped paved roads for free irrigation, creek and aquifer recharge, flood control, and minimizing road maintenance costs. Costs are reduced with gradually-sloped basin banks and stabilizing vegetation that minimize or eliminate the need for rock stabilization of basin banks. Work is reduced and made easier with a custom-made jig, clamping to the street curb, making drilling of 6-inch (150-mm) diameter curb cores easy. Rolling dip dirt road drains divert stormwater and sediment into sediment trap basins that overflow via water-calming and -infiltrating sheet flow spreaders.

This dynamic program in the high desert town of Silver City, NM is funded by a grant from New Mexico Environment Department, so there is no cost to the adjoining property owner, once they sign a one-page agreement to steward/maintain the installation. 100 installations are funded by the grant, including workshops training crews and officials with Silver City streets department and Grant county road department on how to design, implement, and maintain such water-harvesting, rather than water-draining, installations.

See different strategies to harvest street runoff in BOTH the public right-of-way and private property – with default overflow routes that benefit everyone..