Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service’s Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters Program is hosting two residential rainwater harvesting and turf management trainings in the Texas Hill Country Oct. 12, 13.
The Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters Program aims to improve and protect surface water quality by enhancing awareness and knowledge of best management practices, coordinators said.
Attendees will learn about the design and installation of residential rainwater harvesting systems and appropriate turf and landscape species based on local conditions.
Both events are free and open to the public.
The first training, in collaboration with the Upper Cibolo Creek Watershed Partnership, will be from 1-5 p.m. Oct. 12 at the City of Boerne Library, 451 N. Main St., Building 100 in Boerne.
The second training, in collaboration with the Cypress Creek Watershed Partnership, will be from 8 a.m.-noon Oct. 13 at the Wimberley Community Center, 14068 Ranch Road 12 in Wimberley.
Seating is limited, so attendees for either program are requested to register at the Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters website. Those wanting to attend the program in Boerne should register at https://hlhw.tamu.edu/workshops/2017/oct-12-boerne/. Those wanting to attend the Wimberley program should register at https://hlhw.tamu.edu/workshops/2017/oct-13-wimberley/.
Those interested in either program can also contact John Smith, AgriLife Extension program specialist, College Station, at 979-845-2761 or johnwsmith@tamu.edu.
Participants at either training can have their soil tested as part of the program. The soil sample bag and analysis are free to Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters Program participants. At both trainings, there will be a review of how to understand soil test results and nutrient recommendations so residents can interpret results once they receive their analysis.
Reagan Hejl, research associate in Texas A&M University’s Department of Soil and Crop Sciences department, said soil samples will be submitted to the AgriLife Extension Soil, Water and Forage Testing Lab for routine analysis, including pH, conductivity, nitrate-nitrogen and other parameters.
Residents in the Upper Cibolo Creek Watershed area can pick up a soil sample bag with sampling instructions from the AgriLife Extension office in Kendall County at 210 E. San Antonio, Ste 9, Boerne. For more information on the program or how to collect soil samples, contact the Kendall County office at 830-249-9343.
At the Boerne program, Ryan Bass, City of Boerne and Upper Cibolo Creek Watershed Partnership coordinator, will discuss updates on Upper Cibolo Creek Watershed Protection Plan activities to improve and protect water quality in Upper Cibolo Creek.
Residents in the Cypress Creek Watershed area can pick up a soil sample bag with sampling instructions from the AgriLife Extension office in Blanco County, 101 E. Cypress, Ste 109, in Johnson City and in Hays County at 1253 Civic Center Loop in San Marcos. For more information on the program or how to collect soil samples, contact the Blanco County office at 830-868-7167 or the Hays County office at 512-393-2120.
At the Wimberley program, Meredith Miller, senior program coordinator for The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment and Cypress Creek Watershed Partnership coordinator, will discuss updates on the Cypress Creek Watershed Protection Plan activities to improve and protect water quality in Cypress Creek.
Funding for the Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters Program is provided in part through a Clean Water Act grant from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The project is managed by the Texas Water Resources Institute.
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