For many of us in the urban environment in North American we live by the standards of the infrastructure built for us. We turn on the taps for water and all is good, until such time as droughts or lack of rainfall and then our civic leaders tell us we have a problem. If we go back in time we see cultures throughout the world have used captured rainwater as part of their infrastructure. In the urban environment (cities in which we live) we installed bigger pipes to take it away from view and concern. A book such as Design for Water – Rainwater Harvesting, Stormwater Catchment and Alternative Water Use by Heather Kinkade-Levario  published by New Society Publishers, Gabriola Island, BC, 2007 asked did we really get it right? For urban areas that have problems with rainfall; capturing as much water as possible is the proper thing to do; for cities that typically get more rainfall than normal, it is the proper thing to do; for other cities if they capture the rainfall – they can use the water for irrigation at a lower cost to the city. This means cost is a factor in looking at alternatives. My home has a rainwater barrel to put on the plants during the summer and it works well, but in the neighborhood the barrel is an exception rather than the rule. We as a society still see water as very plentiful and low cost. In the book, there are many examples of different projects capturing rainfall for both harvesting and saving money and passive rainwater harvesting which slows down the flow of water going into the storm water drains and allows for the water to be treated. The passive is using nature to help rather than using pipes.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, if you look at the state of engineering and the graduates of engineers you will find some terrific companies but many do not devise plans to work with nature. We seem to want to take the place of nature which we can not do as well as nature does its stuff. In the long term, going back and learning to work with nature rather than drawing straight lines as if did not exist is going to be more sustainable. Companies which recognize this will have losses as the environment changes and insurance companies change how much they will pay out.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising question