No natural resource is more important to community gardeners than water, and identifying and ensuring a dependable source is vital to every garden's success.
Faced with a drought in the summer of 2001 that restricted gardener access to hydrants, GrowNYC and GreenThumb founded the Water Resources Group to promote and fine-tune the idea of water conservation. For our efforts, GrowNYC's rainwater harvesting team received an Environmental Excellence Award from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
There are more than 140 rainwater harvesting systems in New York City community gardens, collecting over 1.5 million gallons of rainwater a year from nearby roofs or shade structures, making water collection convenient for gardeners, and reducing demand on the public water supply system. They also help mitigate rainstorm runoff, which can overload storm drains and pollute the waters surrounding the city.
Interested in having a system in your community garden? Contact us or read our How-To Guide and build your own!
Rainwater Harvesting Resources
- Our Rainwater Harvesting How-To Guide will teach you how to build a rainwater harvesting system of your own.
- Building plans for a Winged Structure, which you can build in your garden and use as a rainwater collection source.
- Rainwater Calculation Tables: Formulas for calculating how many gallons of rainwater can be collected from a roof or structure.
- Our Rainwater Harvesting in NYC Community Gardens Map, showing where RWH systems are located throughout the city.
- The Water Resource Group rainwater harvesting brochure is available as a PDF here.
