Baker Equestrian Center receives the Texas Water Development Board’s Texas Rain Catcher Award

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

AUSTIN – (October 5, 2023) – The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) announced today the recipients of its annual Texas Rain Catcher Award, a rainwater harvesting competition and recognition program. The Baker Equestrian Center in Dripping Springs, 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 Baker Equestrian Center in Dripping Springs, Texas, provides full-service horse boarding, grooming, and riding facilities and identified an opportunity to implement a rainwater collection system that can provide all the water needed for daily operations. The center captures rainwater from the arena roof and stores it in a 100,000-gallon collection tank. The captured water is used to wash and water the horses, as well as moisten the arena surface each day.

The center can collect approximately 12,400 gallons of water for every inch of rainfall, providing more than 400,000 gallons of rainwater collected annually. The system not only saves the owners thousands of dollars a year, but preserves groundwater resources and reduces flooding in the adjacent pasture, which also increases the horses’ grazing area.

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. The Baker Equestrian Center is one of five awardees being recognized statewide this year.

To learn more about previous Texas Rain Catcher Award winners, visit the TWDB website.

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 mitigation, and agricultural water conservation projects.