Steele: Capture your water before it turns to dust

Capture your rain water to drastically reduce your reliance on treated drinking water to irrigate landscapes.

Are you a landscape or irrigation professional, municipal planner, architect, engineer or water-conscious homeowner?

Water

Join the Okanagan Xeriscape Association for a one day workshop and learn the practical benefits of using rainwater as a resource.

The Okanagan is the driest watershed in Canada but this does not mean water is scarce.

We have an average annual precipitation of about 11 inches (28 cm). By capturing it to redirect to plants, or to store for future use during dry periods, we can drastically reduce our reliance on treated drinking water to irrigate landscapes.

These practices also greatly reduce the erosion and flooding caused by sudden heavy rainfall events.

Topics include rain gardens, berms and basins, swales, cisterns, curb cuts and more.

Workshop leader, Gordon Hiebert, Permaculture design specialist at Element-Eco Design, has trained with some of the world’s leaders in regenerative systems design.

Hiebert will discuss regional climatic conditions, water harvesting principles, how to identify opportunities for collection, calculation of catchment surfaces, passive and active interception methods, plant selection, site preparation, and best practices for installation.

The workshop is Saturday, August 16, 9:00am to 5:00pm at the Kelowna Best Western Hotel, 2402 Highway 97 North. Workshop fee is $75.

For more information and to register go to: http://okanaganxeriscape.org/classes/workshops

Kelowna Capital News