How to plant the rain in drylands and beyond, with Brad Lancaster, author of the Rainwater Harvesting books

Regenerative Skills

In the last handful of episodes we’ve explored permaculture earthworks for water harvesting landscapes and keyline design on large scales. As a complement to those topics I got in touch with Brad Lancaster, the author Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, volumes one and two which have recently been re-released as expanded new editions.Brad is an expert in the field of rainwater harvesting and water management whose work I’ve been following for a long time. He is also a permaculture teacher, designer, consultant and co-founder of the non-profit Desert Harvesters, which teaches the public how to identify, harvest, and process many of the native-food plants people are propagating in their areas. He’s also been instrumental in helping to change water management policy and government incentives in the City of Tucson to help others implement water wise catchment and reuse features on their properties. In this interview we cover a wide range of topics from the difference between active and passive harvesting technology and reading the landscape to determine how to work with the natural surroundings, to the increasing importance for water stewardship in non-arid climates and why it’s so important to connect and invest in the place you already live rather than thinking that moving to another place will solve your environmental worries. Brad also gives great advice on home scale water harvesting and storage which are all topics that are covered extensively in his books. He’s done an incredible job with the help of many experts and collaborators to compile tons of resources that are available to help you get started on his website Resources: https://www.desertharvesters.org/ https://www.harvestingrainwater.com/ http://www.dunbarspringneighborhoodforester.org/ Check out the Global Regeneration CoLab TEDx event here!