Earthwrights Designs is a small company located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. We specialize in the design of systems that make the most efficient use of use water in homes, landscapes, and communities. Our approach is to use Technology in a cooperative relationship with Nature.

Three important sources of inspiration have shaped our work. The first comes from the First Nations of the Americas. A famous statement of their philosophy was to consider the influence of their actions on seven generations of their offspring. In other words, we do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our offspring and from the natural world. The second inspiration is from Peter Warshall. In 2001, he published “Unholy Triumvirate: Water, Energy and Cash Flows. His premise is, that money, water, and energy are always related in contemporary culture and infrastructure. The final inspiration came in 2003. At the XI IRCSA conference in Mexico, Mr. Asit Biswas challenged the assembly to think of our work in terms of “Moisture Management”. This means that we must consider, not only the wet water that we use for our daily existence. We must also consider how that water moves through our environment, especially the soil.

From these three inspirations, comes the conclusion that we must learn to capture moisture as it moves through our communities. Then we must use it efficiently and then reuse it as many times as possible before it evaporates or drains downhill. All analyses must consider the amount of energy that is used per unit of water and vice versa. By doing this we will also maximize the efficiency of our soils, nutrients, and natural habitats of the plants and animals that create our livable environment. The principles of sustainable water management are universal, but the applications are specific to site and context.

Content © 2007 Earthwrights