Publications

Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands, vol. 1: Guiding Principles to Welcome Rain Into Your Life and Landscape, by Brad Lancaster. Rainsource Press, 2006. This excellent book enables you to assess your on-site resources (rainwater, topsoil, sun, plants, and more), gives you a diverse array of strategies to maximize their potential, and empowers you with guiding principles to create an integrated, multi-functional water harvesting plan specific to your site and needs.
www.HarvestingRainwater.com

City of Tucson Water Harvesting Guidance Manual, edited by Ann Audrey Phillips. City of Tucson, 2005. A great guidance manual providing basic information and design ideas for developers, engineers, designers, and contractors of commercial sites, public buildings, subdivisions, and public rights-of-way.
Available from City of Tucson, Department of Transportation, Stormwater Section, PO Box 27210, Tucson, AZ 85726, or online at:
http://dot.tucsonaz.gov/stormwater/downloads/2006WaterHarvesting.pdf

Stormwater as a Resource: How to Harvest and Protect a Dryland Treasure, by David Morgan and Sandy Trevathan. A collaboration between the City of Santa Fe and the College of Santa Fe, 2002. This booklet is a brief, clear, and concise guide for harvesting rain and snow on your property. Available online at:
www.nmenv.state.nm.us/swqb/Storm_Water_as_a_Resource.pdf

Harvesting Rainwater for Landscape Use, 2nd ed., by Patricia H. Waterfall and Christina Bickelmann. Cooperative Extension, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Arizona, 2004. A good basic guide with calculations for estimating water needs of landscape vegetation.
Order from Arizona Department of Water Resources, Tucson Active Management Area, 400 W. Congress, Suite 518, Tucson, AZ 85701.
Phone: 520-770-3800. Also available online at:
www.cals.arizona.edu/pubs/water/az1344.pdf

Forgotten Rain: Rediscovering Rainwater Harvesting, by Heather Kinkade-Levario. Granite Canyon Publications, 2004. This Arizona-focused guide has many detailed illustrations of various cistern and filtration systems, plus case studies of Arizona water harvesting sites.
www.forgottenrain.com

A Water Harvesting Manual for Urban Areas: Case Studies from Delhi. Centre for Science and Environment (India), 2000. A very accessible guide encouraging community and household-based water harvesting in India.
www.cseindia.org

Making Water Everybody’s Business: Practice and Policy of Water Harvesting. Centre for Science and Environment (India), 2001. A great book documenting numerous water-harvesting projects in India.
www.cseindia.org

Dying Wisdom: Rise, Fall, and Potential of India’s Traditional Water Harvesting Systems, edited by Anil Agarwal and Sunita Narain. Centre for Science and Environment (India), 1997.
www.cseindia.org

Training Course on Water Harvesting for Improved Agricultural Production. Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, 2003. This CD-ROM focuses on “runoff farming systems” for improved production of crops, trees and rangelands species in drought-prone areas.
www.fao.org

The Negev: The Challenge of a Desert, 2nd ed., by Michael Evenari, Leslie Shanan, and Naphtali Tadmor. Harvard University Press, 1982. A study of ancient and recreated water harvesting and runoff agriculture in the Negev desert.

The Collection of Rainfall and Runoff in Rural Areas, by Arnold Pacey and Adrian Cullis. Practical Action Publishing (formerly Intermediate Technology Publications), 1986. A dry, but informative resource with a worthy emphasis on recognizing local needs and utilizing local resources.
http://practicalactionpublishing.org

The Water Harvester: Episodes from the Inspired Life of Zephaniah Phiri, by Mary Witoshynsky. Weaver Press, 2000.
Address: Weaver Press, Box A1922, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Online Resources

(in addition to the above)

www.rainwaterharvesting.org
This site belongs to the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), one of India’s leading environmental NGOs. Although its primary focus is on rainwater harvesting in India, there is much information pertinent to rainwater harvesting around the globe.

www.harvesth2o.org
This is a great site chock-full of great articles, case studies, and resources on rainwater harvesting.

www.rainwaterclub.org
Another great site with projects and resources pertaining to India and beyond.

Videos

Harvest of Rain. Centre for Science and Environment (India), 1995. Traditional water harvesting systems of India are featured in this 48-minute video.
www.cseindia.org