Pecan Spring Ranch receives the Texas Water Development Board’s Texas Rain Catcher Award

For immediate release. Contact: Media Relations at 512-463-5129

AUSTIN – (October 5, 2022) – The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) announced today the recipients of its annual Texas Rain Catcher Award, a rainwater harvesting competition and recognition program. Pecan Spring Ranch in Menard County, Texas, was recognized in the agricultural category.

The TWDB's Texas Rain Catcher Award recognizes excellence in the application of rainwater harvesting systems in Texas, promotes rainwater harvesting technology, and educates the public on this critical water-saving practice.

The rainwater harvesting system at Pecan Spring Ranch makes use of history to supply water to their livestock, gardens, and area wildlife. The ranch has transformed its Red Barn, a Dutch barn built around 1898, into the catchment surface for their system by retrofitting it with metal roofing and 12-inch stainless steel box gutters on each side.

Pecan Spring Ranch’s rainwater collection system consists of three storage areas: a 25,000-gallon covered rock tank, a 1,000-gallon stainless steel tank, and a 2,000-gallon clay-lined surface water pond, for a combined storage total of 28,000 gallons. Rainwater fills the tanks first before overflow is piped underground to the pond, which also collects surface runoff. Collecting rainwater has saved Pecan Spring Ranch money by reducing the need to use and maintain the existing water well, which also reduces reliance on local groundwater and eliminated the need and cost of drilling a new well.

The Texas Rain Catcher Award competition began in 2007 and is open to all individuals, companies, organizations, municipalities, and other local and state governmental entities in Texas. It recognizes entities and individuals in the rainwater harvesting community and beyond and establishes award recipients as dedicated water conservation leaders in Texas. Pecan Spring Ranch is one of five awardees being recognized statewide this year.

The TWDB is the state agency charged with collecting and disseminating water-related data, assisting with regional water and flood planning, and preparing the state water and flood plans. The TWDB administers cost-effective financial assistance programs for the construction of water supply, wastewater treatment, flood control, and agricultural water conservation projects.