Tucson shows the way in water management

As a crippling drought grips much of the Southern and Southwestern United States, the population continues to grow and water resources become scarcer. In Tucson residents will soon hand cash rebates to residents who install home rainwater-harvesting systems — a technique well-known to off-grid homeowners, which is now entering the mainstream.

The City Council approved $100,000 pilot program Tuesday that will be the precursor for a rebate system intended to go into effect next year.Rebates could be in the range of $850, said interim Water Director Andrew Quigley, which, in a far-sighted move, is the amount the city currently rebates for gray-water systems. Rainwater harvesting captures rainwater for use on a property, while gray-water harvesting reuses water from washing machines, sinks, showers and bathtubs for irrigation.

The rebates are not expected to begin until July 2012, because Tucson Water which spent $23,000 setting up a similar gray- water-harvesting rebate program, is now spending $100,000 to set up the rainwater program.

In the United States, a typical water-harvesting system can cost between $2,500 and $4,500, said Lincoln Perino, who installs them in Tucson for Technicians for Sustainability. More