Venice was already on the cutting edge of water conservation with the implementation of Proposition O at the Penmar Park back in April, and once again Penmar Park was the site of innovative water conservation on Tuesday when the L.A. County Department of Public Safety released their rainwater harvesting guidelines.

These guidelines are the first ever created in California and seek to outline the process for effectively storing and treating rainwater for future use. The guidelines were created over a two year testing period with the help of local non-profits Heal the Bay and Treepeople. I’m not an expert storing rainwater, but you can read about the specifics here.

Now it may not sound very important to merely set guidelines for rain water harvesting, but to me it is an important step to both regulate and increase awareness about rainwater harvesting.

We are all aware of California’s drought susceptibility, so I think it is very important that we can conserve and store as much water as possible. Obviously, rainwater harvesting is a great way to do this, and if every county in California had guidelines and programs for it, then we could eliminate fears of drought. Imagine the difference it would make if each city were able to store a large part of their rainwater for uses such as watering plants and washing cars.

On top of the water conservation, the guidelines also lay out the rules for treating this water before it used. The affect of water runoff into the ocean would be profound if every city applied these rules. This would make our beaches and oceans safer for both people and animals, and who doesn’t want that?

Personally I’m very proud that Venice has one of the first rainwater harvesting sites and hope that our community can continue to be a role model in all things green going forward.

Do you think the rainwater harvesting guidelines will be a success? Will they inspire other communities to implement their own systems, or will Venice be the only one of its kind?