We installed a 265 gallon Slimline tank at this residence on the lower Riviera to direct roof run off compromising a second story patio and the rental unit below.

The tank stores enough water to use on a small veggie garden on the side patio and the overflow runs freely into the terraced gardens below.

Here's the problematic patio before anything was done:

and here's where the rain could be directed into a tank

Copper gutters were added to both areas:

Before the workshop, a pad was put in to stabliize the tank:

At the workshop we put in all the connections-- inlet, hose bib to use the water, and piping for overflow:

Overflow helps to create a rich soil sponge in terraced gardens below. Because it's a small tank, the overflow will often get into the soil when it rains, so this is an important component of the system.

Another successful Sweetwater workshop, that helped with water management and best use of rain water.

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We made a berry nice yard in a series of workshops that featured blackberries, raspberries and blueberries.  Here is what the yard looked like before we got started. Hover over the pictures to read the captions.

Our goal was to bring in drought tolerant plants to be watered by rain diverted from the downspouts, and edibles (trees and berries) that would be watered by greywater from the washer. We had the rain basins begun by a landscape crew so the first workshop could be finishing the basins and planting.

Once the basins and major planting was done, the yard was sheet mulched. We then had a Laundry to landscape workshop to install the greywater system. You can see pictures of that workshop here  and also of a more extensive planting workshop the next year--or look for the links from our Past Projects page.

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Downspouts were diverted, rain basins dug, and fruit trees, berries and some foundational drought tolerant plants were planted. See the photos and story of the first workshop at this site here: http://www.sweetwatercollaborative.org/basic-page/lets-make-berry-nice-y...

The yard was then sheet mulched. Now it's time to install the laundry to landscape system that will provide needed irrigation for the blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries.  From an HE machine, eight is the optimal number of outlets in an L2L system. This is the story:

The system as completed with outlets next to each berry bush planted (eight in all).

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This multi-leveled yard had three downspouts where there were water management issues when Sweetwater folk first took a peek in September 2015. Over a period of months we worked on a successful design that directed all of the problematic stormwater into the landscape, created beautiful rainwater harvesting features, and filled the property with water wise, low maintenance plants.  The installation took place over two workshops with some additional help from a local landscape company.  The project was finished in March 2016. Check out the results!

 

The lawn had been removed from this back yard some time ago, leaving just a light layer of mulch.

In planning our work, we marked out placement of possible rain catchment basins.

Our first workshop was creating the basins, and a dry creekbed from one of the downspouts.  

   

It rained the next day!!

And then we created beautiful transitions, and planted..

 

  

    and voila!

     

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First there was a wall, and a narrow space between the garage and that wall.  And so it seemed like a good place to put a Slimline rain tank. After all, there were downspouts there. And so we did.  And then we had to connect the tank. So we had a workshop and did that.  Voila! The completed tank.

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Tres Palmas is a small HOA on Santa Barbara's Eastside. Houses surround a cul-de-sac with a number of common landscape areas. Sweetwater was asked to re-imagine three of the landscape areas that frame the central part of the complex. This is the story of the Tres Palmas Triangle Transformation.

The side common area was a challenge because it had so many utilities running through it. We worked around them, diverted a downspout and started a lovely rain garden.

The main common area was more ambitious. We used what had been a problem- run on from the neighbors flooding the area- and turned it into a creek bed with a flagstone bridge and patio nearby.

The third area to make up the triangle was smaller but was also transformed.  As the plants fill in, it will become even more beautiful.

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This project started with a common story- a front lawn that would take too much water to maintain, a flat, now dry, nondescript space.  We came, we consulted, and we committed to making a rain garden to help the yard come alive. In August we had a workshop to put in the rainwater harvesting earthworks. 

Then the yard was sheet mulched and left to sit for three months before it was planted. We'll get pictures of the planting workshop up soon!

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In February 2017, Barbara Wishingrad, Sweetwater's Executive Director and Coordinator, was a guest instructor for the Advanced Green Gardener course, part of SBCC's Center for Lifelong Learning.  Her topics were Rainwater Harvesting and Stormwater Management through Curb Cuts. Curb cuts allow runoff to be directed into pervious areas and filtered through the soil. They can help to direct, slow, spread and sink stormwater, irrigate water wise plants, and prevent flooding. 

Each topic included a lecture on a Tuesday and a hands-on lab on a Thursday. Barbara invited Fred Hunter and Josh Graning-- Sweetwater instructors, landscape professionals and Permaculture designers, to collaborate with her for the labs. Fred did the cutting of the curbs for the cuts, and Fred and Josh helped to direct students in digging and rocking the basins where the stormwater flowed on the islands in the parking lot at the Wake Center in Goleta.  Although this was not an official Sweetwater project, all of our staff participated in the same way we do at our  hands-on workshops and we imparted our model and best practices to the students.

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The object of this workshop was to connect a 265 gal Slimline tank to a downspout on a small cottage in downtown Santa Barbara. The cottage was repeatedly flooded during last winter's rainy season. Redirecting the rain that falls onto the roof of this rental property so that wouldn't happen again was a priority before the rainy season begins.

The tank will also serve as supplemental water to nearby fruit trees and water storage for emergencies.

Please hover over each photo to read its caption.

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Sweetwater teamed up with Impact Hub Funk Zone to put a native garden along a strip of land next to the back parking lot of Impact Hub in the Funk Zone. We worked to find native plants that would be showy, attract pollinators, and fit nicely in a narrow space. We are jazzed with the result and look forward to seeing the plants grow over the years to come.

It was a simple and elegant design- with Manzanita Howard McMinn as a centerpiece, flanked by CA native rushes, CA fuschias, a native succulent- Chalk Dudleya, ad a lone monkeyflower.

Come by and see the garden grow! 10 W. Yanonali, in the back.

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