Nancy Deren uses her green thumb to turn her front yard into an oasis for flowers, humming birds and honey bees, and it’s thanks to her 1,575-gallon rain water catchment system.
“I have always had an interest in gardening,” Deren said. “I’d rather use this precious water to grow the plant communities and landscaping that create a whole habitat for all the living creatures here.”
The four rain water tanks surrounding Deren’s home are the lifeblood of her gardening and an example for how Floridians can better hold up against the drought currently affecting the state. Florida is expected to receive below normal levels of rainfall through the next month, according to WUFT forecasters.
Deren’s rain-water-collecting efforts began when a bill from GRU showed her home used 11,000 gallons of water in one month. “I had a panic attack,” she said. One 1,100-gallon tank can be filled with just one inch of rain.
A simple way homeowners can save water is by worrying less about watering their lawns, according to Alachua County’s water program manager, Stacie Greco.
“Our plants don’t really need a lot of that water right now,” she said.
As Floridians continue to resist the current drought, Greco said water can be saved using the smallest gestures.
“When you're doing dishes, when you're showering your yard,” she said, just really think about if that water is really needed and how you can use less of it."