Pilot Project: Far Out West Community Garden

Westside Water Resources’ founder Doug Jacuzzi has a proven record of implementing the concept of net metered, distributed and managed aquifer recharge through the creation of the Far Out West Community Garden’s ground water recharge system.

The project started as the brain child of Doug, better known as DJ, longtime Outer Sunset resident and owner of Soularch Design. DJ approached Karla Lindgren, of the St. Paul’s Presbyterian church, with an offer to take responsibility for the improvement of the Church’s grounds in exchange for the opportunity to develop the land into a community garden space and the SFPUC’s first private groundwater recharge pilot project.

DJ designed a garden that makes efficient and accessible use of the roughly 2500 square feet of open space on St. Paul’s grounds. The design includes 15 raised bed to serve as garden plots, with plenty of communal planting space, ornamental flourishes such as native succulents and trees, a tomato hothouse, composting and the progressive combined water catchment system with percolation field.

Rainwater Harvesting Project

The funds that made this project possible were provided by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.

The Challenge

San Francisco residents rely on Hetch Hetchy for their water, a valuable and fragile resource. Drought, earthquakes and other disasters can disrupt such a remote and complex system.

By supplementing our water supply with local groundwater sources, we can reduce our dependence upon outside water and increase the resilience of our water system.

Unfortunately, cities like San Francisco are covered in impermeable surfaces like buildings and concrete, preventing rainwater from soaking into the aquifer below.

A Solution

The Far Out West Garden’s Rainwater Harvesting Project shows how ordinary buildings can be part of a sustainable cyclical water system.

The success has exceeded expectations in both community participation as well as the volume of water captured. In an average year, 48,840 gallons of rainwater will fall on the portion of the church’s roof feeding the cistern tank. That means that the tank could be filled and emptied 27 times every year!