Micro-basin construction at AME, located at the corner of Speedway and Mountain, was the first major student-implemented rainwater water harvesting project on campus. Facilities staff, faculty, and students worked side-by-side to contour basins around the trees to capture runoff from the roof so that it did not escape into the street.
Also in the summer of 2006, a portion of the Meinel Building landscape, located on the north side of the building along the main mall, was developed using water harvesting terraces to collect and spread the rainwater throughout the planting area. With the exception of rain water supplied by a roof drain on the west, rain water available for harvesting is only that which falls directly on the landscape, therefore, shallow broad terraces were used to spread the available rainfall (as opposed to deeper discrete basins that might accommodate larger flows from other sources). The crew of students and grounds staff worked through the summer heat to have the project ready in time to capture summer monsoon rain.
The collaborative efforts of students, Facilities staff, and faculty continued into the summer of 2006 with extensive work done on the UA Visitor Center, on the corner of University Boulevard and Euclid Ave. Roof gutters were installed to feed micro-basins and large cisterns. The cisterns are designed to irrigate native vegetation planted on the East side of the building. The cisterns will also provide water for a fruit tree. The landscape around the existing building was completely re-contoured, planted, and mulched in ways to take advantage of rain water harvesting. An area of landscape through which the parking lot drains is redesigned to slow and infiltrate the large volume of water that would otherwise end up on University Boulevard.
© 2008 Arizona Board of Regents
