Bandera Home and Garden Show draws a crowd of 450
By James Taylor - Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 1, 2007 12:00 PM CDT
Rainwater harvesting is the new prom king in the school of conservation, taking the popularity throne from xeriscaping, which has in years past been the top draw at the annual Bandera County Home and Garden Show."We had a very good turnout, one of our best turnouts ever, and the biggest draw of all was definitely rainwater harvesting and plant sales," Susan Queen, office administrator for the Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District, said. "We had landscapers, information on organic gardening, septic and well maintenance, and many others."The water district co-hosts the event with the Bandera County Extension Office, paid for out of tax dollars in the district's public education budget. These funds also allow the district to make presentations at area schools, participate in the Bandera ISD sixth-grade fair in May, submit articles the newspaper, and recently, along with the Home and Garden Show, provide rainwater catchment seminars."We want to educate the public on ways to conserve and protect our natural resources, primarily water in our case," Queen said. "We are charged in our legislation with the duty to educate the public with respect to protecting and conserving our water resources."Queen said that the Home and Garden Show is their biggest public event, and has been held annually over the past six years. The date of next year's show has not been announced yet, but Queen said that calls are already coming in.Xeriscaping, landscaping using native plants that don't use as much water as non-natives, has in the past been one of the biggest presentations at the show, but this year, rainwater catchment, or harvesting, has seen a surge in popularity.
"I think people are becoming more conscientious about the fact that our groundwater resources are finite," Queen said. "This is a great way to not pump and use all of those resources, and it is getting more and more popular. We have more people asking about it these days."
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3 comments:
The materials used in a rainwater collection system are fairly simple, because the system itself is efficient and easy to install.
This means that rainwater collection becomes more important for providing needed water for landscapes as well as continuing to control runoff during those not so infrequent gully washers.
rainwater collection is also very useful,because it can maximize the used of pure water.
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