NRCS showcases Tribal water project at rainwater conference

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. - Water harvesting advocates convened here recently for the 2025 American Rainwater Catchment System Association (ARCSA) Conference, Sept. 17, 2025, highlighting the growing adoption of rainwater and stormwater collection as a conservation practice across homes, cities, states and countries.

The conference, themed "Rainwater Systems, Past, Present, Future," brought together professionals and enthusiasts to discuss the advancement of rainwater harvesting, a practice championed by ARCSA since its founding in 1994 by Dr. Hari Krishna in Austin, Texas. The organization's mission is to make rainwater conservation accessible and to work with governments to promote rainwater management.

Jacob Shaffer, acting state tribal liaison for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in Washington (NRCS-WA), presented a joint water harvesting project with the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas. The partnership, which included the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), USDA, and the tribe, involved the design and installation of a 65,000-gallon water storage tank to collect rainwater runoff from the Veterans Pavilion. The collected water is used for community garden irrigation, fire protection for the local school, and to fill brush trucks for prescribed burning in the longleaf pine forest. This project earned the 2024 Texas Rain Catcher Award.

Shaffer also presented another project in Parker County, Texas, at Dove Ridge Vineyard, where the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) helped offset the cost of a 65,000-gallon water harvesting storage tank for supplemental vineyard irrigation and a water source for local fire departments.

Shaffer expressed humility about being invited to present, stating, "I've been promoting water harvesting as a conservation practice since 2009 and it is great to see the progress; however, we still have a long way to go."

Texas and California face significant water challenges, and water harvesting offers one solution to mitigate groundwater and surface water use. Roylene Comes At Night, state conservationist for NRCS-Washington, also supports water conservation on tribal land, drawing from her experience growing up on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana.

"Growing up on Tribal land in Montana there were many water issues," Comes At Night said. "It is great to see the USDA supporting Tribal water issues today through the practice of water harvesting".

The popularity of water harvesting is growing as communities face challenges with traditional water sources and infrastructure, such as wells and pipelines. As Shaffer noted, the next time one sees water running off a rooftop, it's worth considering the amount of water that could be collected and stored for beneficial use rather than flowing away.

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