Brad Lancaster's Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands
and Beyond, Volumes 1 and 2
by Scott Vlaun

Nothing is more essential to life than water. It permeates our daily existence in a way that is rivaled only by the air we breathe. And while it is nearly as ubiquitous, our water, like our air, is easily tainted. Unlike the air we breathe, water is becoming a scarce commodity in many parts of the world, and the source of catastrophe in others, as the recent floods in the Midwest United States so poignantly spell out. Ironically, in many of the regions that experience the worst flooding, ancient aquifers are being pumped dry in an effort to produce cheap feed for livestock and bio-fuels for transportation.

As ever more land is cleared for agriculture and forests are denuded for cooking fuel in many parts of the world, our hydrologic cycle is in increasing disarray. Streams dry up, rivers fail to make it to the sea, lakeshores recede and aquifers fall. The water that is left to supply daily needs for a growing population is often tainted with agricultural runoff and industrial waste. Pure water has become the domain of a new industry that is working to privatize a substance that a generation ago was taken for granted as a basic human right. The ultimate irony of our growing water crisis is that pure water continues to fall from the sky, and it is often viewed as a nuisance rather than a precious resource.

With his three volume series entitled Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Brad Lancaster is trying to change all this. In the first two volumes Lancaster lays out the "Guiding Principles" behind harvesting rainwater, and creating "Water Harvesting Earthworks" respectively. The forthcoming third volume will detail Roof Catchment and Cistern Systems. While Lancaster's work is firmly rooted in the permaculture tradition established by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, the detailed focus on water, practical solutions, and working examples sets his efforts apart. After a short immersion in these books, it becomes clear that this man has a passion for rain and its transformative power in the landscape.; he begins volume one by simply stating: "I love the rain."

Rather than focus on high-tech, large-scale projects often favored by government agencies, Lancaster presents example after example or what can be done by homeowners and communities, with a few simple tools and little or no expense. True to his permaculture background, he implores us to "begin with long and thoughtful observation" before implementing a design, then to start small, maximize relationships between elements in the design (stack functions) and continuously reassess our systems (the feedback loop).

While the books are geared towards those who live in drylands, there is much to learn for the rest of us who live in drought-prone areas (which, these days, is just about everyone) about how best to utilize water in our landscape and mitigate the flood-drought cycle, how to capture and store clean water, and how to recycle our greywater to safe and productive use.

With over 600 combined pages and as many illustrations, these two volumes cover a wide range of concepts from the ethics of rainwater harvesting right on through to drought-tolerant species for multi-functional landscaping. Along the way he explores both historic and modern strategies from waffle gardens, terracing, rock mulches, and floodplain farming, to soil imprinting, French drains, infiltration basins, variations on mulching, permeable paving, cisterns and lots more. And he does it all with an amiable, easily comprehensible style that will appeal to anyone who wants to take control of their hydrological future.

Reviewed by Scott Vlaun,
Editor