Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters online training set for Sept. 3
The Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters Program of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will host a residential rainwater harvesting and turf management training Sept. 3 for Cameron and Hidalgo counties.
The free training is offered in collaboration with the Arroyo-Colorado Watershed Partnership.
The program will be online from 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. with a half-hour lunch. Participation is limited and online registration is required.
Attendees can RSVP online or contact John Smith, AgriLife Extension program specialist, College Station, at johnwsmith@tamu.edu or 979-204-0573. Those who RSVP to the event will receive updates, instructions for joining the online meeting and materials related to the meeting via email.
“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.
Becky Bowling, Ph.D., Texas Water Resources Institute urban water specialist, Dallas, said attendees will learn about the design and installation of residential rainwater harvesting systems as well as 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,” Bowling said.
Diane Boellstorff, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension water resource specialist in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, College Station, 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.
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 AgriLife Extension offices in in Cameron County. 1390 W. Expressway 83, San Benito, or Hidalgo County, 410 N. 13th Ave., Edinburg.
Bags containing resident’s soil samples should be returned to the location where they were obtained prior to or by one week after the meeting. They should not be mailed directly to the sampling 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 how to understand soil test results and nutrient recommendations so residents can interpret results once the analysis is mailed to them.
As part of the program, Jaime Flores, watershed coordinator for the Arroyo Colorado Watershed, will discuss updates on watershed protection plan activities to improve and protect water quality in this watershed.
The Arroyo Colorado Watershed Protection Plan has more details on the efforts taking place to improve water quality in that water body.
Funding for the Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters Program is provided in part by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under assistance agreements to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. 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.