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Yeah I was wondering if our storm-water sewage system is sucking the water out of our lands. But how much does this really matter? There would have to be some analysis of these systems vs land with no such system vs where they are to rain sources etc.

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The city live in (Maplewood MN) recently built rain gardens in our neighborhood for catching rainwater.

They are basically deep pits filled in with gravel with slightly sunken garden on top. The water runoff from the street is diverted into them where most of it is absorbed into the ground.

http://www.bwsr.state.mn.us/images/ww-box.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-31kb5tVYmJU/Ub9T22Hgy_I/AAAAAAAAAv...

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VLZpvg9e-H8/UbY86YdLjzI/AAAAAAAAAn...

http://www.usgs.gov/water/

The storm system drains all the "hardware" in an urban or suburban area — roofs, roads, parking lots, and sometimes even constantly mowed grass (which can form subterranean hardpan). Higher runoff rates lead to flow bottlenecks, flooding, and untreated sewage discharge.

Still, agricultural land has more catchment.

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