What: Join Cool Boulder guest speaker and rainwater utilization expert, Brad Lancaster, as he guides attendees through a hands-on workshop and site assessment activity at the Junkyard Social Club. Brad will demonstrate the potentials of “planting rain” through describing a body of existing work around the Western US, and by walking participants through the steps in a site assessment and strategic plan for managing the water cycling in a way that feeds vegetation and minimizes stormwater runoff to create more resilient and healthy living landscapes! This workshop will include two sessions – one in the morning and one in the afternoon. You may register for one or both sessions if you’d like, but please unregister if you can no longer attend. (registration details below)

What to bring:

• Clothes you are comfortable walking in, getting dirty

• Refillable water bottle

• Notebook, writing utensil or other method of capturing information

Session #1: Morning

• The morning session will include:

  • A show and tell around exciting rainwater utilization/growing absorbent landscapes that have taken place around the US,

  • An introduction to the basic concepts and design strategies for incorporating rainwater into climate resilient landscapes, and

  • A hands-on training in simple site assessment techniques that participants can then apply to areas they can work with.

• When: Saturday, July 1st; 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

• Where: Junkyard Social Club; 2525 Frontier Ave Suite A, Boulder, CO 80301

  • Click here to register for session #1 in the morning!

Session #2: Afternoon

• The afternoon session will include:

  • A pizza lunch will be provided to those who attend the field portion of the workshop.

  • A visit to 3 different types of urban landscape sites:

    • a public facility/park,

    • an urban single-family dwelling, and

    • an urban multi-family dwelling site.

  • Participants will be able to practice using the site assessment techniques they were introduced to in the morning session.

When: Saturday, July 1st; 1:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Where: Aurora 7 Park (by High Peaks Elementary School); 3805 Aurora Ave, Boulder, CO 80303

• Click here to register for session #2 in the afternoon!

Brad Lancaster has worked with communities all over the world to bring both indigenous and traditional knowledge of rainwater planting together with contemporary approaches and technologies that enable us to live and thrive on the water that comes to us for free from the sky. He will share stories from his experiences with these different places and cultures.

• Recognizing that Colorado’s future climate will much more closely resemble places like New Mexico, we need to learn from those who have already been adapting to a limited ground/surface water future. Brad will share the emerging lessons and best practices that are reshaping both the way we approach infrastructure development and water policy, both in his native home of Tucson, AZ (average rainfall 10-12”/yr) and elsewhere. Learn about specific approaches being taken in other communities and examples of household and community projects that are easily implemented at both levels.

If you are interested in learning more about rainwater harvesting and Brad’s innovating work and the techniques he has developed, check out the following resources:

Brad has literally written the book on rainwater harvesting practices!

A short movie was recently made about Brad, called, “Water Harvester: An Invitation to Abundance“, which shows some of the amazing transformations he’s helped create.

He has also done a number of great talks, including this Ted Talk from a few years ago.