No natural resource is more important to community gardeners than water, and identifying and ensuring a dependable source is vital to every garden's success. Faced with a drought in the summer of 2001 that restricted gardener access to hydrants, GrowNYC and GreenThumb founded the Water Resources Group to promote and fine-tune the idea of water conservation. For our efforts, GrowNYC's rainwater harvesting team received an Environmental Excellence Award from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

GrowNYC has built 80 rainwater harvesting systems in New York City community gardens, collecting over a million gallons of rainwater a year from nearby roofs or shade structures, making water collection convenient for gardeners, and reducing demand on the public water supply system. They also help mitigate rainstorm runoff, which can overload storm drains and pollute the waters surrounding the city. Interested in having a system in your community garden? Contact us or read our How-To Guide and build your own!

In 2010, GrowNYC staff built 10 new rainwater harvesting systems in community gardens across the city.  We also trained volunteers from Green Apple Corps and Million Trees NYC Training Program on how to build rainwater harvesting systems of their own. 

GrowNYC was recently awarded a grant from the Bronx River Watershed Initiative to install rainwater collection systems at five Bronx community gardens within 1/2 mile of the Bronx River. The systems will capture more than 15,000 gallons of storm water that currently flows to the river each year.

Building a RWH system at Joe Holska Garden in Staten Island.

Demonstration of our newly designed treadle pump.