Rainwater harvesting is not very efficient with a rain barrel. There are much better design patterns for harvesting rain: 1. To scale, you are really trying to

Rainwater harvesting is not very efficient with a rain barrel. There are much better design patterns for harvesting rain: 1. To scale, you are really trying to capture water in the soil itself 2. This means taking advantage of terrain features to manage patterns of flow. The idea here is to slow down flow so that it cycles through the planting areas so that the water can infiltrate instead of running off. 3. Mosquitos is a problem if pooling remains for more than three days. The solution here is to add organic compounds (mulching) to cover the areas being pooled. It effectively makes the water go below the surface, and have the added benefit of carrying composting nutrients deeper into the soil. 4. Soil’s ability to hold water depends upon a number of factors. Among them is how much carbon material is there, which includes the remains of root systems. Living, healthy soil will act as a sponge and release water to the plant as needed. 5. So protecting soil erosion is a huge part of conserving water. If the rain is carrying off soil because it is running off too fast, there is never a build up of soil to act as a sponge. 6. You may need to plant more than a monocrop. At least plant ground cover to protect the farm’s soil fertility. 7. Certain soil amendments can have lasting effect on its ability to absorb water. Biochar — charcoal that have been prepared in a way to make it suitable for plants — have the property of absorbing water and releasing it as needed. They also form habitats for microbes and fungi, which can also enhance plant growth. 8. Heavy fertilizing may be contributing to soil loss. They don’t help accumulate the kind of properties that help soil absorb water. Here is an example paper about it: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/soil-erosion https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biolog... It is not as if this stuff is not well known