Planning now for a not-so rainy day

If you’re like many Texans who watched their lawns brown during summer and lamented watering restrictions due to drought, having a backup system to provide water to parched landscaping would have been a welcome relief.

Now that rainfall appears to be returning, consider getting your home ready for the next round of restrictions by allowing Mother Nature to provide you with a backup system to use when you can’t water.

Rainwater harvesting is an inexpensive do-it-yourself that can save your lawn and landscaping during dry periods, help lower your water bill, and conserve a vital resource during wet periods.

An ancient practice, rainwater harvesting is the collection and storage of rainwater from a roof-like surface by redirecting the water to a tank, cistern, or other container. Collected water can then be used to water plants, trees, garden crops, flowers, and grass, supplementing your water needs between rain events or during watering restrictions.

Systems don’t have to be large or complicated, and you can set one up just about anywhere.

“Archeological evidence attests to the capture of rainwater as far back as 4,000 years ago, and the concept of rainwater harvesting in China may date back 6,000 years,” according to the Texas Water Development Board’s Texas Manual on Rainwater Harvesting. “Ruins of cisterns built as early as 2000 B.C. for storing runoff from hillsides for agricultural and domestic purposes are still standing in Israel.”

For every inch of rain that falls on a 2,000-square-foot roof, about 1,000 gallons of water can be collected, according to the TWDB.

Here’s how it works: when the rain falls, it hits the roofs of homes and businesses. Many structures already have gutters and downspouts, which make for the perfect way to direct the rain into one area for capture.

Rain barrels are the most common and economical rainwater harvesting system. You simply place a barrel beneath a downspout or heavy run-off area of the roof. That’s it!

Rain barrels can hold as little as a gallon or as much as 50 gallons of water. Many systems use a lid or screen to keep debris from getting in the water. The water can then be scooped out from the top or released via a spigot toward the bottom of the barrel.

Rainwater harvesting barrels equipped with spigots are available for purchase at most big box stores, but you can create your own with anything a large bucket to large trash plastic trash cans.

Many cities offer financial incentives for installing a rainwater harvesting system including rebates, discounts, and tax exemptions. Your local water provider or city may provide these. You might also check with your county appraisal districts for guidance on exemptions from county property taxes.

In addition to local incentives, the Texas Tax Code exempts rainwater-harvesting equipment from sales tax, and the Texas Property Code prevents HOAs from prohibiting rainwater harvesting systems.

According to The Texas Manual on Rainwater Harvesting, a few examples of successful rainwater harvesting include:

• The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Research Center in Austin, Texas, which harvests 300,000 gallons of rainwater annually from almost 19,000 square feet of roof collection area for irrigation of its native plant landscapes.
• The Advanced Micro Devices semiconductor fabrication plant in Austin, Texas, does not use utility-supplied water for irrigation, saving $1.5 million per year by relying on captured rainwater and collected groundwater.
• In Central Texas, more than 400 full-scale rainwater harvesting systems have been installed by professional companies, and more than 6,000 rain barrels have been installed through the city of Austin’s incentive program in the past decade.
• An estimated 100,000 residential rainwater harvesting systems are in use in the United States and its territories.

Harvesting rainwater has so many benefits. It saves you money by reducing your water bills. It reduces demand on the municipal water supply. It makes efficient use of a valuable resource. And, it reduces flooding, erosion, and the contamination of surface water with sediments, fertilizers, and pesticides in rainfall runoff.

In many communities, 30% to 50% of the total water used is for landscape irrigation, according to the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. If the demand for a limited natural resource can be reduced, everyone benefits.

The key, of course, is to use the water that’s collected.

For information on rainwater harvesting, including how to build a system for your home, go here.

With the state’s growing population and limited supply of groundwater and surface water, Texans must use water wisely. With Texas being a dryer state, rainwater harvesting systems can supply water during droughts and lessen the demand on municipal systems.

Why not capture the water?