Following the Cypress Creek Project meeting, the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service’s Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters Program will be hosting a free residential rainwater harvesting and turf management training. 

The HLHW Program aims to improve and protect surface water quality by enhancing awareness and knowledge of best management practices for residential landscapes. Attendees will learn about the design and installation of residential rainwater harvesting systems, appropriate turf and landscape species based on local conditions and other practices. Management practices can help reduce runoff and make efficient use of applied landscape irrigation water, all while improving water quality. 

Residents can pick up a soil sample bag with sampling instructions at the AgriLife Extension office in Hays County, 200 Stillwater Road in Wimberley. Attendees can bring their soil samples to the training and the samples will be delivered to the AgriLife Extension Soil, Water and Forage Testing Lab in College Station for routine analysis, including pH, conductivity, nitrate-nitrogen and other parameters. The training will include information on how to understand soil test results and nutrient recommendations so residents can interpret results once the analysis is mailed to them. 

Seating for the workshop is limited, to sign up, RSVP here, or contact John SmithAgriLife Extension program specialist, College Station, at johnwsmith@tamu.edu or 979-845-2761.

Funding for the Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters Program is provided in part through Clean Water Act 319 grants from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The project is managed by the Texas Water Resources Institute, part of Texas A&M AgriLife Research, AgriLife Extension and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University.