save the rain!

a few months ago there was an article in the la times about resources conservation that mentioned rainwater harvesting (i know it's big in some australian communities, but know nothing about it stateside). i did some quick research and here's a short summary: for homes in the burbs, there are two main kinds of simple rainwater collecting: one that stems from your rain gutters, and the other really low tech way of regular plastic barrels with large openings on top. seeing as how it does rain much is so cal, the rain gutter way is the more practical and efficient way. for more info about the gutter way, including a pictorial how-to go here.

i seem to remember hearing that even during the rainy season, california is always suffering a drought. but with all the rain lately (it's rained like a week straight! and it isn't really intermittent either; it's all day long), i wonder if we (the govt, that is) are doing anything to try to hold onto the rain water.

i couldn't find any answers for that, but i did find out from the california energy commission website that "Energy represents the largest controllable cost of providing water or wastewater services to the public. California water and wastewater agencies spend more than $500 million each year on energy costs. [their italics and bold]" i also read on the national resources defense council website that "The California State Water Project is the largest single user of energy in California. In the process of delivering water from the San Francisco Bay-Delta to Southern California, the project uses 2 to 3 percent of all electricity consumed in the state."

i get that $500million a year isn't that much when compared to the rest of california's yearly budget. i also get that 2-3% is hardly anything at all. but we could be spending this money and energy on other things, no? and seeing as how southern california's rainy season is especially short you'd think we'd be trying to retain as much water as we could when we actually got it for free!