Ward Miller, an official with the Native Plant Society of Texas — Fredericksburg Chapter, discusses popular native plants and how they can help save water when used in local landscape settings. He was joined by other speakers and exhibitors at Thursday’s City of Fredericksburg Water Conservation Expo. — Standard-Radio Post/Danny Hirt
By Danny Hirt
The importance of taking care of the earth’s water supply was the common theme of the inaugural City of Fredericksburg Water Conservation Expo held Thursday evening at Marktplatz.
One relatively easy way to increase a family’s supply of water is by using a rainwater catchment system, according to event guest speaker Billy Kniffen, of Menard County, a Texas AgriLife Extension Service Water Resource Specialist.
“It can be as simple as you want it to be,” Kniffen said, regarding how sophisticated a rain catchment system needs to be to service a variety of rural/farming activities.
He explained that harvesting rain water was a common practice among early settlers in Texas, but added that much has changed over the past 100 years and more.
The water expert mentioned that founding father Thomas Jefferson utilized four 400-gallon rain barrels at his Monticello home, including water that was caught for use in and around Jefferson’s garden. Today, Kniffen explained, the use of a rain garden helps retain the water, keeping it from running down into the streets, then into the rivers and other waterways and away from where it’s needed.
Kniffen went on to say that water needs increased as urban areas grew, requiring the establishment of wells and lakes. With conventional water supplies literally drying up, he explained further, other ways of conserving water — such as rain catchment methods — have become popular again.
“My wife and I live totally on rainwater,” Kniffen said, a method they’ve employed for the past 12 years. They’re able to restrict their personal water requirements to 19 gallons each per day, using “less (rain) water than here (Fredericksburg).”
He mentioned that one square foot of space (such as a roof or other catchment surface) will yield approximately six-tenths of a gallon of water from one inch of rain. In other words, he went on, a 2,000-square-foot roof could gather 1,200 gallons of water with the same one inch of rain.
In addition to irrigating plants, the collected rain water can be used for other things, Kniffen explained, such as watering landscapes (utilizing native plants that will cut down on the amount of water need), taking care of farm animals and pets, and fire protection.
For more on this story, read this week’s print and online editions of the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post. If you are a print subscriber, your full online subscription is free. All you need to do is call 830-997-2155 to get a password. If you are not a subscriber, call 997-2155 or click on the ‘Subscribe’ button on the left side of the home page and sign up today!