Azusa residents catch, store rain water due to drought

AZUSA, Calif. (KABC) -- The latest storm system won't do much to help California's drought, but for some enterprising people, any bit of rain is a good thing.

Nancy and Gary Solem started catching and storing their rain water a few months ago because of the drought. They were shocked by the amount they've saved.

"Everything that hits the roof runs down the roof, and so he's put the barrels down at the bottom, so it catches all the water that runs off of the roof," Nancy Solem said.

Gary Solem jury-rigged the system using garbage cans and some plastic tubing. And he admits he's probably not done.

"I'm still going to get a little electric pump," he said. "I'm getting too old to bucket everything all the time."

They now have enough water to irrigate the plants for a few days. And that's just from a quarter-inch of rain.

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