On Sun, 14 May 2017 11:24:52 -0700 (PDT), BradMM
wrote:

Do I need them??? Where we are, be get about 32" per year and it comes at different times of the year. We can go months with no rain at all. Are gutters just something people install because they don't know any better or do they indeed serve a purpose. If there is drainage away from the house, does it make a difference if the rain falls directly under the eaves or a couple of feet out with a gutter spout?
Gutters allow me to get out the door without the runoff from 20mfeet
of roof running down my neck. They also keep from having a trench
washed out all around the house, and help keep rain out of the
basement window-wells. On top of that, they allow me to collect
rainwater in catchment barrells for use over the often long breaks
between rain. 3 barrels only catch an hour or two of rain, but that
water can be used to keep many plants alive for several weeks of
drought. I even put gutters on my garden shed - connected to another
barrel. Before I put on the gutters there was always a trench where
the water came off the roof.