Youth Education on Rainwater Harvesting and Agricultural Irrigation Training for Small Acreage Landowners Final Project Report For the Completion of TWDB Contract No. 1003581100 by Dr. Dana Porter, P.E. Associate Professor & Extension Irrigation Engineer Texas AgriLife Research Lubbock, TX Brent Clayton Extension Program Specialist Texas AgriLife Extension Corpus Christi, TX submitted to the Texas Water Development Board P.O. Box 13231, Capitol Station Austin, Texas 78711-3231 April 2012 i This page is intentionally blank. ii Texas Water Development Board Final Project Report Youth Education on Rainwater Harvesting and Agricultural Irrigation Training for Small Acreage Landowners by Dana Porter, Ph.D. Brent Clayton Texas AgriLife Extension Service April 2012 iii This page is intentionally blank. iv Acknowledgements This resource is made available through support from the Texas Water Development Board (Contract #1003581100, “Youth Education on Rainwater Harvesting and Agricultural Irrigation Training for Small Acreage Landowners”) and the USDA-ARS Ogallala Aquifer Program. Special thanks are extended to Cameron Turner, Texas Water Development Board, and Whitney Milberger-Laird, formerly with the Texas Water Development Board, for their guidance and participation in this project, as well as to Billy Kniffen, Extension Program Specialist, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, for his tireless efforts in conducting Rainwater Harvesting training events; to Justin Mechell, former Extension Program Specialist, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, for his assistance in project management and contributions to the irrigation curriculum materials and to Diana Thomas for her assistance with various aspects of the project. v This page is intentionally blank. vi Youth Education on Rainwater Harvesting and Agricultural Irrigation Training for Small Acreage Landowners Table of Contents 1 Executive Summary .................................................................................................................... 1 2 Introduction and Background.......................................................................................................3 3 Project Objectives .......................................................................................................................5 4 Tasks and Methodology.............................................................................................................. 7 5 Results ...................................................................................................................................... 11 5.1 Youth Education ........................................................................................................... 11 5.2 Public Water Awareness................................................................................................ 25 5.3 Irrigation Training for Small Acreage Landowners....................................................... 35 6 Conclusions .............................................................................................................................. 36 7 Appendices .............................................................................................................................. 37 Appendix A – Document explaining water conservation activities for youth Appendix B – Evaluation Survey Given to Youth Appendix C – Evaluation Survey Given to Teachers and Master Gardeners Appendix D – Presentations for Educators Appendix E – Presentations for Youth Appendix F – Irrigation for Small Farms Manual Appendix G – Irrigation for Small Farms Presentations Appendix F – Comments from TWDB Executive Administrator on Draft Final Report List of Figures Figure 1. Rainwater harvesting simulator and stream trailer ………………………………….9 Figure 2. Rainfall simulator at school program in Sinton, TX on July 18, 2011.................... 13 Figure 3. Wildlife “guzzler” at school program in Sinton, TX on July 18, 2011....................13 Figure 4. Calculating irrigation flow rate at school program on July 18, 2011...................... 15 Figure 5. Plastic sheet watershed activity at school program on July 18, 2011..................... 15 Figure 6. School program in Weatherford, TX on July 21, 2011 demonstrated how a watershed works through this plastic sheet activity...........................................16 Figure 7. Classroom presentation at school activity on July 21, 2011................................... 16 Figure 8. A school program on November 18, 2011 in Laredo, TX demonstrated fate of rainwater with this rainfall simulator.........................................................18 Figure 9. Rainfall simulator at school program on January 13, 2012.................................... 19 Figure 10. Rainfall splash activity at school program on January 13, 2012........................... 19 Figure 11. Youth range camp .................................................................................................. 20 Figure 12. Rainwater harvesting display at San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.................. 26 Figure 13. Rainwater harvesting publication at San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo............ 26 Figure 14. Rainwater harvesting display at Landscape Irrigation Expo.................................. 27 vii Figure 15. Participants at rainwater harvesting booth at Landscape Irrigation Expo.............. 27 Figure 16. Figure 16. Public Festival – The Plano Live Green Expo in Plano, TX on April 15, 2011…………………………………………………………......... 28 Figure 17. Close-up picture of rainwater harvesting display at Plano Live Green Expo........ 28 Figure 18. Rainwater harvesting booth at the Texas Irrigation Expo...................................... 29 Figure 19. Rainfall simulator at Master Gardener training on June 9, 2011............................ 32 Figure 20. Rainwater harvesting activity at Master Gardner training on June 9, 2011............ 32 Figure 21. Rainfall simulator at Master Gardener training on July 13, 2011........................... 33 List of Tables Table 1. Evaluation results from school program on June 6, 2011............................................. 12 Table 2. Evaluation results from school program on July 18, 2011............................................14 Table 3. Evaluation results from school program on July 21, 2011........................................... 17 Table 4. Evaluation results from school program on August 10, 2011...................................... 17 Table 5. Evaluation results from Junior Master Gardener program in March 2011................... 21 Table 6. Evaluation results from Junior Master Gardener program on July 12, 2011................ 22 Table 7. Evaluation results from school teacher training program in November 2010.............. 23 Table 8. Evaluation results from school teacher training program on January 21, 2011............24 Table 9. Evaluation results from school teacher training program on June 16, 2011.................24 Table 10. Evaluation results from Master Gardener training program on November 5, 2010..... 30 Table 11. Evaluation results from Master Gardener training program on February 10, 2011..... 30 Table 12. Evaluation results from Master Gardener training program on March 15, 2011......... 31 Table 13. Evaluation results from Master Gardener training program on June 9-10, 2011......... 33 Table 14. Evaluation results from Master Gardener training program on July 13-14, 2011........ 34 Table 15. Evaluation results from Master Gardener training program on August 30, 2011........ 34 viii 1. Executive Summary As population increases and water supplies decrease in Texas, the awareness of the importance of water is steadily rising. Managing water is a complex issue, as it involves many stakeholders, environmental conditions, policies, and laws. Though complex, one certainty remains true in all situations: water is essential for life. To ensure that adequate and safe water is provided to everyone in the present and future, rain and irrigation water must be properly managed. According the 2007 State Water Plan, one of the most effective ways to manage water supplies is through conservation. For example, the 2007 State Water Plan estimates that in 2060 irrigation conservation strategies will account for 37% of all irrigation needs. Because water conservation is usually performed by the end-user, in order for conservation to be a successful water management practice, education must be implemented. Areas where an effective conservation education program can be implemented are rainwater harvesting for youth, general public water awareness, and irrigation for small acreage landowners. The goal of the Youth Education on Rainwater Harvesting and Irrigation Training for Small Acreage Landowners project was to promote water conservation through educational programs by targeting youth and small acreage landowners to change their water-use habits. In order to achieve the goal, three tasks were developed to target specific water-using audiences: 1) youth education; 2) public water awareness education; and 3) development of agricultural irrigation educational resources for small acreage landowners. Youth education involved five program areas where youth were educated: school programs, a youth water camp, a youth range camp, Junior Master Gardener programs, and school teacher training events. The activities were a combination of hands-one activities and classroom presentations. In the youth education task, a total of 614 individuals were reached,