Program Description
The WMG Water Harvesting Certification program is designed for professionals, educators, and community organizers seeking comprehensive instruction in water harvesting systems design and construction. The program offers a unique combination of hands-on and classroom instruction that provides participants with a thorough, on-the-ground understanding of the core practices in this increasingly popular field.
WMG offers this 10-day program at various times throughout the year in both Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona. The curriculum focuses on water harvesting planning, design, and installation for retrofitting urban areas.
The Water Harvesting Certification program includes the following:
- Lectures on each major topic
- Hands-on assessments at the sites where projects will be implemented
- Training workshops where participants learn by constructing water harvesting systems at public, residential, or commercial sites
- Reading and homework assignments to solidify knowledge gained in the hands-on workshops
- Final exam to earn certification
New: WMG Tool Training Workshop
WMG is now including a Tool Training Workshop in each Certification course. Course participants become familiar with a variety of tools to implement rainwater and greywater harvesting practice and also learn about tool safety and tips. The 2-hour workshop sessions cover digging tools to power tools and even common materials and applications for general water harvesting and other household projects. Cost is included in program cost or is $35 for members of the public to attend.
Meaning of Certification
Certification signifies that the participant has received a thorough training and has demonstrated a mastery of essential core concepts in the topics outlined in the curriculum.
The Water Harvesting Certification course is designed and administered by WMG staff with assistance from an advisory board made up of professionals who teach and implement water harvesting practices. The lectures and trainings are taught by WMG staff and guest lecturers who are respected in their field.
To earn certification, participants must earn 90% on a written examination on concepts and applications of water harvesting taught in the course. Participants who earn certification are listed (if they desire) on WMG’s web site as a WMG Certified Water Harvesting Practitioner, with contact information for the participant or their business.
- Integrate water harvesting systems with other design considerations (energy conservation, aesthetic design, food production, wildlife habitat, etc.)
- Calculate runoff potential of catchment areas and run soil percolation tests
- Create a water budget and match water harvesting systems with appropriate landscaping
- Choose, size, and build appropriate earthworks features for different applications (basins, berms, swales, French drains)
- Design greywater systems from laundry, bathroom sink, and bathroom shower water
- Build gravity-fed greywater system from laundry machine wastewater to irrigate landscape
- Size and build steel-culvert cistern
- Size and install plastic cistern
- Design water harvesting systems to support small-scale food production (including earthworks design, cistern design and application, and soil improvements)
- Design all of the above systems while incorporating safety and health considerations
Applying to Program
To apply for the program, prospective students are required to submit an application and resume to WMG. Application to the Water Harvesting Certification can be competitive; WMG is not always able to accommodate all the applicants that we receive. Preference is given to those applicants who demonstrate that they have the capacity to utilize the skills and knowledge learned in their profession and/or community in a direct way.
Each individual course that WMG offers has an application deadline, as well as an early application date. However, WMG encourages prospective students to apply well ahead of each course's deadline, as applications are considered on a rolling basis. To download an application and see upcoming courses, visit the Certification Main Page.
Course Prerequisites
- There are no educational or professional requirements for this course, but applicants should have the desire and capacity to master a large amount of information in a short time.
- Capacity for physical labor: course participants will complete six hands-on system installation workshops in over the course of a week, including piping, digging, planting, and rock work. Participants should possess a base of physical fitness.
- Intellectual curiosity and the ability to read and analyze three course textbooks prior to the course, in addition to completing four applied homework assignments during the course.
Program Requirements
- Participating in the entire training program. If a session is missed, the student will be required to make up that session at a later date to earn certification.
- Completing reading and homework assignments. Assignments will be provided prior to the training dates.
- Taking the final exam to earn official certification.
Program Cost
The cost of the program is $1,050 for early registration, and $1,200 for applications received afterwards. WMG provides a limited number of scholarships up to $300 for assistance to defray costs for those in need. WMG also pursues funding to further subsidize costs for participants, and may periodically offer the course at reduced rates when funding is available.
Students are encouraged to apply for grants, such as workforce development or green job training funds offered through employers or city, county, or state governments.
Recent Instructors
- Brad Lancaster, Consultant & author of Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond
- James MacAdam, Green Streets - Green Neighborhoods Project Manager, Watershed Management Group
- Catlow Shipek, Senior Program Manager, Watershed Management Group
- Lisa Shipek, Executive Director, Watershed Management Group
- James DeRoussel, Project Manager and workshop instructor, Watershed Management Group
If you have any questions about the training program or application process, please contact Lindsay Ignatowski, lindsay@watershedmg.org, 520-396-3266.