The Camp Verde Community Library recently acquired a rainwater catchment system as part of its future educational and pollinator garden.
Library Manager Nicole Metz-Andrews first began thinking about the potential for a rainwater catchment system when she first started as a VISTA volunteer coordinator in August 2021 and noticed the large downspouts on the back patio, thinking that they could be used to funnel the runoff. She then discovered that the original plans for the library included a water silo with a star viewing station on top. While that was cut in later redesigns, the planned gutter system for rainwater collection had been retained.
Metz-Andrews envisioned using it to feed a rainwater cistern that could provide water for an educational and pollinator garden.
With help from Friends of the Library, she applied for and received grants from the Arizona Community Foundation and the Friends of the Verde River’s River Friendly Living Program. The Salt River Project and the Greenwood Naturalist Fund also made donations to the project.
Resident Randy Miller, who contributed to the project, directed the library to Southwest Water Tanks. Metz-Andrews said that the company was excited to be providing a water cistern in the Verde Valley because they constantly see the need for rainwater catchment. The library selected a 10,000- gallon tank for its system.
“I wanted this to be something that could support my vision for the garden, but also to be a model for the town,” Metz-Andrews said. She noted that as Camp Verde grows, government buildings might move away from Main Street, which would require constructing new buildings, and that it will be important to design future buildings to catch rainwater and use that water for landscaping.
The rainwater catchment system will support the future pollinator and educational garden. The library has been working with master gardener Lesley Alward, who has provided a plant list for the garden. The plants will be selected to harmonize with their surroundings, such as by planting light-tolerant plants in places with direct sun and pollinator-friendly plant species to attract pollinators, such as bees and butterflies. They are hoping to have some pollinator species planted by the fall. Future plantings will include herbs for use in the kids’ cooking classes the library holds.
Metz-Andrews also wants to install education stations throughout the garden. “It would be a calming space but also an educational space,” she said.
She would like to see the Friends of the Verde River and Gardens for Humanity have their own stations, focusing on one topic for a season or a couple of years, as well as the YavapaiApache Nation, which could discuss sacred plants or those used in everyday cooking.
Another design possibility is weaving a figure-eight path throughout the garden. A few tasks still need to be done, including redigging the swale and taking out the drip line. Metz-Andrews is also working with community members who are interested in designing murals for the tank.
