Winter rain in the desert

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It's the morning of January 26th and a gentle rain started last night. For those of you who live in the desert, "rain" is water that falls magically from the sky. And desert rats, like me, walk out and watch the stuff. I am taking a break to write this post, but I will be back watching it again soon.

Living in the desert, rain is about the last thing that we think about in our gardens. But I grew up where it rained a lot, so the first time it rained here at The Tropical Paradise, I took my umbrella and walked around my property, making sure that it drained properly. And I've done it regularly several times over the years.

A suburban lot like mine is designed to hold a certain amount of rainwater. That is, it shouldn't all run away down the street. There is a gentle slope from north to south and then to west. The artificial turf is perforated, so it allows water to seep in to deep water the roots of the trees. I have a gutter along the edge of my patio that directs the water in that direction, instead of pouring off of the edge of my patio cover, which it did for years.

As the rain continues, "Hall Lake" is formed in the southern half of the backyard. As the water rises, it flows along the southern edge of the house out into the courtyard, which holds water for a while. When that water gets high enough, it flows out of a hole at the bottom of the courtyard wall and into the street, where it flows to a detention basin a few blocks southwest of my neighborhood. And any overflow of the detention basin flows into storm drains that go to The Agua Fria River, down to the Gila River, and ultimately to The Pacific Ocean at Baja California.

If you've done extensive "remodeling" of your landscape, you can easily undermine the original design of the property, which is designed to make sure that rainwater doesn't come back up into your house. If you've not taken a look for a while, or never taken a look, get your umbrella out today and walk your property.

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