The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department staff discussed rainwater collection on an episode of their Under The Texas Sky podcast. They talked with special guest Tim Miller of Millberg Farm in Kyle, Texas. He’s a certified organic grower who operates a community supported agriculture program on his 5 acre farm. He has a long history of growing heirloom vegetables and fruit in central Texas.
Tim discussed how he got into collecting rainwater for his farm. He sustains all of his gardens with the rainwater he collects at his farm. Along with active rainwater collection into tanks, he has also designed the land with swales, terraces, small ponds and check dams to help retain water longer after rains.
Tim’s water conservation efforts have not gone unnoticed. He’s been recognized with awards from the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District, as well as the Blue Legacy Award from the State’s Water Conservation Advisory Council as an agriculture producer.
The podcast also visited with two members of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Green Team. Annalise Reichert is a Sustainability Program Specialist in the Support Resources Division, and Christy Seals is a registered architect and the Design Program Manager for the agency’s Infrastructure Division. The Green Team’s mission is to help Texas Parks and Wildlife improve its environmental sustainability efforts. A key part of that process is meeting goals set forth in a sustainability plan that focuses on energy efficiency, water conservation, waste mitigation and recycling.
They discussed the potential opportunities for rainwater collection at the Texas Parks. They mentioned two parks in particular, Cedar Hill State Park near Dallas and Mission Tejas State Park in east Texas. At Cedar Hill, they are implementing passive rainwater collection strategies to mitigate stormwater runoff while at Mission Tejas State Park, they are using rainwater collection for toilet/urinal flushing.
While the rainwater collection system at Mission Tejas helps to conserve water (offsetting the use of municipally treated water), it is also a way to educate the park visitors about what rainwater harvesting can do and allows them to think about applying it at their homes.
Visit the Under the Texas Sky podcast website to listen to the episode or you can download the podcast episode from your favorite podcast provider.
