San Luis Obispo -- Cal Poly is showing off a new rainwater collection project today. It's a partnership with the Morro Bay National Estuary and NOAA. The Rainwater Harvesting Demonstration Project will collect thousands of gallons of water from the rooftops at cal Poly's
Beef Unit during the rainy season and store it in huge tanks for the dry months when it will help sustain about 200 bulls.
Like most cattle operations the Beef Unit relies on riparian wells for its water supply. These wells are part of the Morro Bay Watershed. Using stored rain water instead will help maintain the levels of nearby creeks which provide habitat for threatened steel head trout. It also will help sustain the beef unit during times of drought and it lessens the possibility for contaminated run-off during heavy rain.
The water will be stored in four 74-thousand gallon tanks. The tanks will store on average 260-thousand gallons and during especially wet seasons can store up to 290-thousand gallons. The project cost about 380-thousand dollars. Most of it was paid for by NOAA using stimulus money from the American Recovery And Reinvestment Act. The project was built by the California Conservation Corps.
The rainwater project is meant to serve as an example for ranchers and farmers. There were additional costs for this project, in part because of its large scale, but the estimated cost for a private landowner to buy and install just one of these tanks is about 60-thousand dollars.
