Reducing Storm Runoff Many operations are required to capture storm runoff from production areas. This can represent a significant volume of water to divert and hold. Therefore growers should use space efficiently and reduce as much as wasted surface area as possible. Also, vegetative cover helps limit runoff, so work towards eliminating hard surface areas. Since up to the first 2 inches of storm runoff must be collected reservoir capacity should be designed on the basis of predict-able storm events.
Most designs also allow for enough freeboard to handle unpredictable storm events.
Although large volumes of water can be lost through evaporation, the quality of water and sediment left behind is extremely poor, creating even more challenging disposal problem. Land use is one means of disposing of this effluent. Many operations irrigate tracks of land with irrigation runoff. However, secondary runoff must be avoided. Overhead irrigation is the most feasible system for this application.