Rainwater Harvesting and Stormwater Research is a priority research area identified by the Arizona Governor’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Water Sustainability, which recommended that universities take the lead to identify regulatory barriers, cost and benefits, water quality issues and avenues for increasing utilization of stormwater and rainwater at the regional, community and individual property level. In an effort to address the priority research area, the University of Arizona will develop a decision support tool to be used by public utilities and agencies to evaluate suitability and cost-effectiveness of rainwater and stormwater capture at various scales for multiple benefits. Data from the City of Tucson, Arizona will be used to support the decision support tool. Additionally, the project will investigate potential benefits from additional supply, reductions to flood intensity, and other water resource management issues. This project will be completed in August 2013.
