Making do in the middle of a drought

I don’t like Stage Four water restrictions, but I recognize that they are essential.

As reported in the View last month, the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District is reporting record low Trinity Aquifer levels district-wide. One local water company has been fined nearly half a million dollars for over pumping, local wells are running dry and water continues to be lost through leaking pipe infrastructure. We need to face the fact that Stage Four water restrictions will probably be with us for a while.

If you like to garden and live in the Wimberley area, you should have a rainwater collection system. I know, it only works if it rains. But if you already have installed rain barrels at the bottom of your gutters, even a small rain (the only kind we have gotten this summer) will fill those barrels up.

It’s hot. Air conditioners are running, and condensation from the AC is good water for plants. I am lucky that the condensation water at my house runs through a pipe outside that enables me to collect and use it for outside plants. Perhaps your system can be adapted to do the same.

Container gardening uses less water than in ground gardening. Some people hook their rainwater collecting system up to a drip irrigation system — which is another water efficient method for growing plants. I grow vegetables in containers placed near the rain barrels. The days are getting noticeably shorter, and some fall blooming plants respond to the longer nights by blooming. I was surprised to see some Snow on the Mountain native wildflowers blooming in a local field today. Nature gives us hope.