The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) announced today the recipients of its annual Texas Rain Catcher Award, a rainwater harvesting competition and recognition program. The award recipients have displayed excellence in rainwater harvesting in Texas in five categories: agriculture, commercial, community, educational, and residential.
The 2015 Rain Catcher Award winners are:

  • Bob Durham and the Natural Resources Conservation Service for designing a rainwater harvesting system that captures water from the roofs of two large livestock barns and then stores it in six linked 5,000-gallon polyethylene tanks.
  • Seaholm Power Development LLC for developing a rainwater harvesting system that is an industrial-scale project using repurposed power plant cooling infrastructure.
  • Hill Country Youth Event Center for harvesting rain from the roof of its buildings and collecting it in two 65,000-gallon storage tanks for distribution to livestock wash bays and toilets in the exhibit hall.
  • Luci and Ian Family Garden at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center for building an 8,000-gallon inverted roof tank that collects rainwater and distributes it to water features in the garden.
  • The Alvarez residence in San Antonio for creating a structural aquifer that allows for rain water to flow into a gravel fill under the driveway and then be pumped into a drip irrigation system as needed.

Since the program began in 2007, the TWDB has recognized numerous entities and individuals across the state. For more information on the Texas Rain Catcher Award, please visit the TWDB’s website.
The TWDB is the state agency charged with collecting and disseminating water-related data, assisting with regional planning and preparing the state water plan for the development of the state’s water resources. The TWDB administers cost-effective financial assistance programs for the construction of water supply, wastewater treatment, flood control, and agricultural water conservation projects.