More Volume 1 testimonials
Testimonials for Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Volume 1
“Brad Lancaster has done it again. In revising his excellent book, he has given us a window into the world through the lens of water. Water connects all things. And Brad shows us water as a practical way of considering context and connection. From a world of water as commodity, he takes us to a world of water as moving, enriching exchanges, the stuff of life. A native friend got a job with his local water company, and rather than an engineering job,
he saw it as a sacred trust. This is the shift that Brad leads us carefully through. Water is wealth and health—let’s treat it that way, and dance our way from scarcity to abundance.”
— Joel Glanzberg, author of the The Permaculture Mind; tracker;
and teacher / designer of regenerative living systems; PatternMind.org
“In a time of escalating resource scarcity and global conflict, this essential book helps us regain control of our water by showing us how to enhance our water and energy supply with simple, fun, and effective strategies at home and beyond.”
— Maude Barlow, author of Blue Covenant; Senior Advisor on Water to the President of the United Nations General Assembly
“Brad Lancaster clearly defines the differences between the path to scarcity and the path to abundance, both revolving around the wise use of water while avoiding the consequences of careless use. Throughout the book, alternatives are plainly described with illustrations that get to the point. I have worked in the field with Brad. He is unabashedly committed to the parallel causes of water and energy conservation. He asks incisive questions, searches for answers, tests solutions, documents findings, and happily shares his conclusions with all who care to listen. Clearly Mr. Lancaster is an agent for change, a true innovator, providing simple but powerful solutions to difficult questions facing society in both urban and rural situations.”
—Bill Zeedyk, Zeedyk Ecological Consulting, LLC; co-author of Let the Water Do the Work
“Lancaster’s book on rainwater harvesting is fantastic and an abundant guidebook for a more sane approach to our most precious resource. I highly recommend it.”
— Jason F. McLennan, CEO, International Living Future Institute
“This is one of those ideas that you just need to think about for a moment to understand its importance—and here we have all the techniques you’ll ever need patiently laid out!”
— Bill McKibben, fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; author Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet and Oil and Honey
“A very good book gets even better. The case studies inspire, and the advice is detailed. This book is not just for people in arid lands; rainwater harvesting provides free delivery of clean water, reduces flooding, and improves stormwater quality in wetter lands too. Homeowners, renters, builders, students, planners, and policy makers—read this book!
— David Bainbridge, co-author of Passive Solar Architecture; author of A Guide for Desert and Dryland Restoration: New Hope for Arid Lands; works.bepress.com/david_a_bainbridge
“This book is a must read for all of us who care about water. The personal, heartfelt stories of Brad’s own processes and successes motivate us to try, while the clear connections he makes to the global environmental crisis we face deepens the importance of this work.”
— Laura Allen, founding member of Greywater Action; www.GreywaterAction.org
“Its said that water is the crisis du jour of the early 21st century as energy was of the late 20th century. This is true but more importantly the two are intimately related. 20% of our energy use is for pumping water and large percentage of our energy production is based on hydropower much of which is wasted for air conditioning that could be accomplished by proper shading and natural ventilation. Appropriate technology (finding the right scale to apply technology and design) is the key to addressing this situation and no one does this better than Brad Lancaster. Brad shows how to passively harvest sun, shade, and water using appropriate design principles available to us all.”
— Ken Haggard, architect, San Luis Sustainability Group; co-author of Passive Solar Architecture; ISES Passive Solar Architecture Pocket Reference; author of Fractal Architecture
“I listen to the music of the water flowing in the river, and I wonder: “Will this beautiful melody remain forever?” Brad Lancaster gives me the answer: YES, if we act now, making the connection between water and life, living cisterns of vegetation and a better climate, and rainwater harvesting and energy saving (reducing toxic emissions). This book is an indispensable tool for all of those who want to minimize their footprint and contribute to greening the planet, especially for those, like me, who live in the Drylands. ¡We all should read it!”
— Alejandra Caballero, Director of Proyecto San Isidro, a Mexican Training Center in Land Restoration and Sustainable Living; www.ProyectoSanIsidro.com.mx
“Brad Lancaster offers simple, time-tested solutions to making better use of the water falling on properties. The tools and strategies presented have the potential to help homeowners replace nearly all their landscape water use with water derived from on-site sources: rainwater, stormwater runoff, and greywater.”
— Water Engineering Australia
“Water running off our gardens, streets and farmland is the #1 source of ocean pollution – and ocean users and precious marine life suffer. Meanwhile, many regions lack clean drinking water. Plus, transporting and cleaning water is energy-intensive, contributing to climate change. But we can sponge up that runoff in soil — naturally watering plants, filtering pollutants and recharging groundwater. Brad’s methods to do this apply everywhere along the coast. Put them to use on your site, step-by-step. Not a DIY type? Show the book to your landscaper. And share it with your city and water district to spread the knowledge.”
— Paul Herzog, Ocean Friendly Gardens Program Coordinator, Surfrider Foundation; www.OceanFriendlyGardens.org
“Brad Lancaster is the country’s Messiah of water harvesting, teaching a gospel of catching water that falls from the sky or runs down the street. With the passion of a preacher, he shows us how the water we save ennobles our lives and lifts up our spirits. As we each do our part to make the world a better place, our joy and fulfillment comes from the fruits of our commitment: verdant trees, glorious shade, ripe fruit and vegetables, and precious water. Water harvesting won’t turn an arid landscape into the Garden of Eden, but it sure will make you feel better about living in a water-challenged place. Lancaster has made me a believer; this book may change your life.”
— Robert Glennon, Regents’ Professor at the University of Arizona; author of Unquenchable: America’s Water Crisis and What To Do About It
“This book and the thinking behind it should be part of the basic education of civil engineers, architects, landscape architects, and planners everywhere. As a civil engineer working for a progressive municipal water utility in an arid climate, I can see if a majority of our citizens followed these practices, many of our current and future challenges would be alleviated. The positive side benefits in terms of erosion-control, creation of bird habitat, and natural cooling would be exceptional.”
— Patricia Eisenberg, P.E., Past president, Arizona Society of Civil Engineers
“Brad Lancaster’s Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond is an important book. Its teachings should not just be applied to drylands. It’s about using hydrological cycles to create and support sustainable landscapes, and the lessons are universal and useful wherever you live. This book is where to start with environmental restoration. His story of “The Man Who Farms Water” in Africa is a microcosm and metaphor for the brilliant use of Nature’s operating instructions. Most highly recommended!”
— John Todd, Ph.D., Research Professor and Distinguished Lecturer, The Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, The University of Vermont; President, Ocean Arks International
“Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Volume 1 is more than a text on how to harvest rainwater. It is a way of life that gives back nourishment to our earth rather than what has become the standard of continually taking. This way of life has become almost a religion for Brad and as he demonstrates, it should be the same for all of us.”
— Heather Kinkade-Levario, R.L.A., President of the American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association (ARCSA); author of Design for Water
“The world needs more practical visionaries like Brad Lancaster! Blending his own knowledge, experience and wisdom with the collected wisdom and best practices of water and sun harvesters from around the world, Brad gives us access to a wealth of critically needed tools for rethinking our relationship with the gifts of water and sunshine falling for free from the sky. This man more than walks his talk; he lives, breathes, eats, and drinks it!”
— David Eisenberg, Director of the Development Center for Appropriate Technology; co-author of the Straw Bale House Book; lead author of “Code, Regulatory and Systemic Barriers Affecting Living Building Projects; two-term member of the Board of Directors of the U.S. Green Building Council
“This important and timely water-harvesting book reads like a conversation with a trusted friend. As such, it is an effective how-to and why-for manual for living within our means in our shared watersheds. Heartfelt thanks, Brad, for spotlighting the route to abundance in these arid climes!”
— Barbara Clark, project manager, Teran Watershed Project, Cascabel AZ
“I’ve been looking for a book like this for a long time. That is, one that will tell me, armed with a shovel and not a great deal of mechanical fussing or back-straining, to begin saving rainwater immediately. And in the process, save money, salve my conscience, and, best of all, come out ahead with a greener life.”
— Peter Wild, U.S. Water News
In the Arid Southwest water scarcity has taught generations upon generation of desert dwellers to respect their environment and to cherish the most precious natural resource of this area, WA TER. These teachings have and continue to come directly from the interconnectedness of land, people, and culture, and although modernity encourages us to forget, the environment constantly reminds us. For this reason, we must be diligent in gathering and sharing knowledge that will create new paths that support a just, equitable, and sustainable future, that addresses root problems, creates resilience and restores a balance between people and their environment. Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond is a great book helping do just that.
— Luis A. Perales, M.S., Community Organizer; Tierra Y Libertad Organization; www.facebook.com/TierraYLibertadOrganization
“Brad’s Rainwater Harvesting books may be the most important books I have ever read, as an architect, permaculturist and homeowner. The amazingly simple, natural, and beautiful strategies presented are much-needed tools for solving an astounding array of water-connected problems, from energy use and water scarcity to food production and biodiverse landscapes. Brad reveals the importance of an integrated, wholistic approach to dealing with water on a site, and he reminds us of the great rewards of treating rainwater as the valuable resource that it is.”
— Gayle Borst, Architect and Executive Director of Design~Build~Live, Austin, Texas
“Our modern society is afflicted with a severe case of hydrological illiteracy. Brad’s Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, in three volumes, is the antidote needed to mitigate this epidemic of cerebral imperviousness impacting the collective head-waters of our cultural ego-system! Pragmatic practitioners of “waterspread” restoration for arid lands and beyond, will find a wealth of accessible and practical information in these books. The Conservation Hydrology mantra of Slow It – Spread It – Sink It has never been better articulated in as clear and concise terms for the homeowner, ranch owner, sub-division developer or city stormwater engineer. I will require this book for all my Basins of Relations community watershed students and feel it should be so as well for all land managers and land use planners. This book is sure to become a classic for all people who believe in a future based on rehydration instead of dehydration and for that I say, Bravo Brad!”
— Brock Dolman, WATER Institute Director, Occidental Arts and Ecology Center
“What a wonderful, enthusiastic book. Brad Lancaster lives what he preaches—a water-careful lifestyle that is all about more life. Brad is a worthy teacher—his love and deep respect for water shines through on every page.”
— Ben Haggard, author, artist, regenerative-systems practitioner and teacher
“Brad Lancaster presents the first of three volumes of his vision on what might be called Eco-hydrology. It is not just a book about harvesting rainfall, although there are many practical ideas on how to make use of the water that falls on your land. It is a guide designed to help the reader see what Brad sees when looking at a city lot or homesite. He has set as his goal to train you to see your land and the environment in which it is set in a new way, as a natural resource to be managed in harmony with your living there. While water harvesting is central to living a new paradigm it is only part of a broader vision designed to enrich your quality of life while enhancing the surrounding environment.”
— James J. Riley, Ph.D., Soil, Water and the Environmental Science Department, The University of Arizona
“This book is the best of both worlds, highly user friendly and highly informational. Its practical and straightforward nature is an antidote to inaction from overwhelm and confusion. It will definitely be an essential resource for our work at the Institute of Permaculture Education for Children and facilitate bringing Permaculture and Water Harvesting into schools.”
— Patty Parks-Wasserman, Director and Founder of Institute of Permaculture Education for Children
“Like small acorns that grow into mighty oaks, Ben Franklin’s succinct and wise words are perhaps more valuable today: ‘Waste not; want not…A penny saved is a penny earned.’ The anticipation of rain and its eventual harvest and storage for nurturing the native habitat, our source of food, the quality of our air and water, and visual delight for our senses is a natural model for us to mimic. Brad Lancaster’s pioneering series of books, Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, shows us how we can mimic the way nature works, as it immediately provides the resources necessary to support a world of efficient and effective use of water that helps create abundance in all our lives.”
— Dr. Wayne Moody, American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), Planner
“Brad Lancaster’s Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Vol. 1, is a fantastic resource for all of us dryland dwellers! Lancaster’s enthusiasm and commitment to more sustainable and rewarding dryland lifestyles bubbles out of every paragraph, and his writing is personable and easily accessible, even though packed with information. This combination makes rainwater harvesting seem not only absolutely necessary if we want to survive for long in drylands, but easy and fun as well!”
— David A. Cleveland, Professor, Environmental Studies; University of California Santa Barbara; Co-Director, Center for People, Food & Environment; co-author of Food from Dryland Gardens
“Brad’s book is amazing. He has made it so readable and the photos and diagrams and even cartoons make it easy to follow and very practical, yet the research and figures are there to read which make it a very scholarly book as well. His passion for the subject shines through in a very non-preachy way. It is a remarkable achievement. It is so relevant for places all over the world. It is clear that water is one of the most important issues of the 21st century and he tackles it in a way that everybody can play their part.”
— Paul Hallowes, Santa Barbara, California
“Brad Lancaster is one of those rare individuals who combines a practical ability to design and implement common-sense solutions to rainwater management issues with a clear ecological and political vision of the importance of doing so. In Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond Brad shows us how to use rainwater around our homes and in our communities so that our human-created landscapes reflect the abundance of nature. As we move from assumptions of scarcity to participation in abundance, our lives and our communities can be transformed.”
— David Confer, Ph.D., environmental engineer and sustainable design and development consultant
“On a water-world such as ours, Brad’s book should be a required study for all human beings. Scholarly, forthright and, above all, practical, this work delivers critical knowledge to those thirsty for a positive relationship with water. Thank you Brad for your friendly presentation of such a complex and important component of global sustainability!”
— Paul A. Branson, Earthwise Technologies Ecological Restoration