Rusk County Groundwater Conservation District

For many years, Rusk County citizens have utilized rainwater harvesting to supply water for household, landscape, livestock, and agricultural uses.  Before municipal and rural water supply systems were developed, rainwater was harvested by use of cisterns that collected rainwater from roofs.  This method of collecting useable water has all but been forgotten, but still provides a source of pure, soft, low sodium water for landscape watering.
Rainwater is good for plants because it is free of salts and other minerals that harm root growth.  It also enhances the drought tolerance of plants.

Why bother harvesting rainwater?
1. It saves you money by reducing your water bills.
2. It reduces demand on the municipal water supply and the aquifers that provide us drinking water.
3. It makes efficient use of this valuable resource.
4 It reduces erosion and the contamination of surface water with fertilizers and pesticides in rainfall run-off.

If you would like to find out more about this easy method of saving money and reducing the demand on our aquifers, we suggest you visit the sites below. Both have excellent publications on harvesting rainwater.  The publications can be purchased or downloaded at no charge in PDF format.

“Texas Guide to Rainwater Harvesting” presented by the Texas Water Development Board.

“Rainwater Harvesting” (document B-6153) presented by the Texas Cooperative Extension.