The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters Program will host a residential rainwater harvesting and turf management training July 24 in Williamson County.
The free event will be held 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. in the Training Room at the City of Round Rock Utilities and Transportation Department Office, 3400 Sunrise Road, in Round Rock.
Attendees who RSVP to the event will receive updates and materials related to the training via email. RSVP at hlhw.tamu.edu/workshops or by contacting John Smith, AgriLife Extension program specialist, Bryan-College Station, at john.smith@ag.tamu.edu or 979-204-0573.
The training is offered in collaboration with the Brushy Creek Watershed Partnership.
“The Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters Program aims to improve and protect surface water quality by enhancing awareness and knowledge of best management practices for residential landscapes,” Smith said.
Residential landscape best practices on the agenda
Smith said attendees will learn about the design and installation of residential rainwater harvesting systems and appropriate turf and landscape species based on local conditions and other practices.
“Management practices such as using irrigation delivery equipment, interpreting soil test results and understanding nutrient applications can help reduce runoff and make efficient use of applied landscape irrigation water,” Smith said.
“Proper fertilizer application and efficient water irrigation can protect and improve water quality in area creeks, and collecting rainwater for lawn and landscape needs reduces stormwater runoff,” said Dean Minchillo, program specialist with the Texas Water Resource Institute, TWRI, in Dallas.
Luna Yang, watershed coordinator for the Brushy Creek watershed and TWRI research specialist in Bryan-College Station, will also discuss updates on the partnership’s activities to improve and protect water quality in this watershed. Additionally, Jessica Woods, water conservation program coordinator, City of Round Rock will also provide updates on local conservation programs.
Soil testing
Participants can have their soil tested as part of the training. The soil sample bag and analysis are free to Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters Program participants.
Residents can pick up a soil sample bag with sampling instructions and the Urban and Homeowner Soil Sample Information Form at the AgriLife Extension office in Williamson County, 100 Wilco Ste, AG 201, Georgetown.
Bags containing residents’ soil samples should be returned to the location where they were obtained within one week after the training; soil samples may also be brought to the training, where staff will have soil bags for samples. Please do not mail the soil sample to the lab.
Samples will be grouped into one submission and sent to the AgriLife Extension Soil, Water and Forage Testing Lab in College Station for routine analysis, including micronutrients, pH, conductivity, nitrate-nitrogen and other parameters.
The training will include information on understanding soil test results and nutrient recommendations so residents can interpret results once the analysis is mailed to them.
Funding for the Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters Program is provided in part by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality through a Clean Water Act 319(h) grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The project is managed by TWRI, a unit of AgriLife Research that combines expertise across the agencies of Texas A&M AgriLife.
