In an effort to reduce water consumption, the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority is partnering with the New Mexico Water Collaborative to study rain harvesting systems that can store up to 100 times more water then the average rain barrel.
Yvette Tovar runs the New Mexico Water Collaborative and explained that here in New Mexico rain falls fast and furious for really short periods of time.
“In our climate that’s a pretty amazing opportunity to capture that,” Tovar explained, “and you could be getting hundreds of gallons that you could be using over weeks to sustain your landscape.”
The group installed nine large-scale systems across the city where harvested water will be used for irrigation. ABCWUA is considering implementing a new rebate program next year for people wanting to install large-scale rainwater harvesting systems themselves.
