Lake Powell Crisis from 2000 to 2005

Lake Powell in Southern Utah is one of the most drastic examples of the water crisis we are having, which will only continue to get worse over time. From 2000 to 2005, the volume of the man-made lake has dropped from 20 million acre-feet (about 6.5 trillion gallons) to 8 million acre-feet (about 2.6 trillion gallons). Thats a 60% drop in volume over the span of the 5-year drought. Over the past few years, Lake Powell has rebounded a bit, but all evidence points to another serious drop in volume when the next major drought hits the Colorado River valley. The video shows the banks of the lake over the 5 year span when the drought was worst.

Tuscon's Rainwater Harvesting Ordinance

The City of Tucson passed a rainwater ordinance (passed 10/2008) requiring rainwater harvesting for new commercial development! It doesn't go into effect until June 2010, but it's a big step for a good sized city.

The ordinance requires new commercial development to get 50% of their landscaping water from rainwater collection. The City website has a rainwater harvesting site with info, resources and a water budget spreadsheet.

The worksheet isn't quite as user friendly as it could be, but the developer has her name and contact information on the spreadsheet, so she's open to suggestions and comments. Kudos to the City of Tucson and Ann Audrey from the Tucson Office of Conservation and Sustainable Development.

http://www.tucsonaz.gov/ocsd/sustainability/water/rainwaterharvesting.php