Saving Rain

There is this article in today's Seattle PI that mentions an archaic Washington State water law. Click here to read the article.

I decided to do some research- what is this law exactly?

RCW 90.46.130 Impairment of water rights downstream from freshwater discharge points.

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, facilities that reclaim water under this chapter shall not impair any existing water right downstream from any freshwater discharge points of such facilities unless compensation or mitigation for such impairment is agreed to by the holder of the affected water right.

(2) Agricultural water use of agricultural industrial process water and use of industrial reuse water under this chapter shall not impair existing water rights within the water source that is the source of supply for the agricultural processing plant or the industrial processing and, if the water source is surface water, the existing water rights are downstream from the agricultural processing plant's discharge points existing on July 22, 2001, or from the industrial processing's discharge points existing on June 13, 2002.

Washington Department of Ecology established the Reclaimed Water And Water Rights Impairment Advisory Committee to assist the agency in examining water right issues and finding appropriate solutions. The Department of Ecology has given themselves to December 31, 2010 to develop and adopt new rules based upon suggestions from the advisory committee.

As a homeowner- I have been looking at collection rain water in containers larger than my 55 - gallon rain barrel and would like to install a cistern. I do not know for sure, but there seems to be a City of Seattle pilot program currently in place called Seattle RainCatcher Pilot.

Seattle Public Utilities Rain water harvesting.

Georgetown Garden Tour

At the US Bank parking lot in Georgetown, we checked in, made a donation and received our map. Photo's are not great, but we are learning. Someone needs a haircut.

Great City - Seattle

Came across a fairly new group- Seattle Great City Initiative.

The Seattle Great City Initiative brings together organizations and individuals committed to making positive, lasting change, breaking down traditional barriers that can get in the way of smart planning and helping Seattle grow and thrive as a truly great city.

They are having a Summer Street Scene Party. Thursday, July 17, 2008.
Vulcan, Inc. is the event host.

Click here to see poster.

I really like the organization's long term goals.

1. Sustainable Practices
2. Social Equity
3. Increase of the Supply of Well Designed Housing
4. Improved Parks and Streets and Public Spaces
5. Green Building Standards
6. Clean Affordable Mobility.

I will try to get myself and my family to this event, but it conflicts with the little's ballet class.

Coupons- Save Money

NPR did a program on coupons and how people can save up to 25% on their grocery bill. I started looking at the coupon sites on-line and started reading some of the blogs. I learned that it is easy to print coupons from the internet- which is great, but then I looked at the food products. Most of the coupons I found were for processed foods- foods that we don't eat.

Once, a long time ago, before we had children, my father told my husband and I that we spent too much on food. We sat down and did the math and in some ways he is correct. The average American spends about 5-7% of their budget on food we spend about 13%. Then I found this post from Thriftiness Becomes US- they were appalled that some Americans spend up to $200 a week on food. The US Cost of Food Chart for April 2008.

Cost are rising. Everything is more expensive- so it is important to look for good deals and save money on food, etc. I am not ready to compromise the health of my family by eating food that I know is not the best for them. I have a very healthy family and I do think this extra cost on good non processed food could be one of the reasons- plus in the long run it could/maybe save us $ on health care costs.

I am Voting Repulican - Video

http://www.imvotingrepublican.com/

Click on the link above- not what you may expect.