From the Hill Country Alliance –
The annual Rainwater Revival is the largest gathering of rainwater harvesting businesses and contractors in the state. Now in its 7th year, the Revival continues to evangelize the message of delicious water that comes free from the sky and is so easy to capture, store and use for home or garden.
The Rainwater Revival, ever popular with homeowners and businesses alike, is free, family-friendly and set for Saturday, November 5, 10am to 4pm at the Dripping Springs Ranch Park. The covered event center near Dripping Springs will be a-buzz with more than 50 vendors, exhibitors, food trucks, live music at noon, the Raindrop Stop for kids, and a line-up of speakers who will bring their passion and expertise for rainwater harvesting to the stage.
Billy Kniffen, known to many as the father of rainwater capture in Texas, once again brings his wit and wisdom to the Rainwater Revival. His topic for the morning is Rainwater Capture for Everyone, and in the afternoon Mr. Kniffen will again take the stage to present on the ease and benefits of capturing rainwater for birds and wildlife.
Other speakers at the Rainwater Revival “edu-fest” include Teresa Lopez, a LEED accredited mortgage banker who will talk about how to finance rainwater harvesting systems and other “green” choices for homes and businesses. Chris Maxwell-Gaines of Innovative Water Solutions will discuss the future value of water and how it will affect our communities. Tim Miller of Milberg Farms in Kyle, a winner of the state’s prestigious Blue Legacy Award for Water Conservation in Agriculture, will show how to easy it is to grow things using captured rainwater. A full speaker lineup can be found at www.rainwaterrevival.org.
While the Dripping Springs area has been called the rainwater harvest capital of Texas, the practice is finding advocates throughout the Hill Country who have discovered rainwater as a preferable water supply to groundwater, a diminishing resource of often-hard water that can be hard on appliances. Even city dwellers are finding that rainwater capture for use on their lawns is beneficial, not only for their plants, but also in reducing monthly water bills.
This year, for the first time, a RAFFLE of “all things Hill Country” is in place to raise funds for the Hill Country Alliance School Grant program. The online raffle, RainwaterRevivalRaffle.com, ends Friday, November 4, but tickets will be available for purchase at the RAINWATER REVIVAL on November 5. Raffle winners, who need not be present to win, will be drawn and announced during the RAINWATER REVIVAL in Dripping Springs.
Raffle tickets are $5 each or five for $20 and offer a number of amazing Hill County experiences, including a weekend at the Cool River Cabin at Native American Seed near Junction, an overnight stay in a treehouse at Cypress Valley Canopy Tours, a visit to Bracken Bat Cave Preserve for ten, a day of wine tasting for eight, and a 1,100-gallon rainwater tank, to name but a few.
About the Rainwater Revival
The Rainwater Revival is a free, annual celebration of collection, conservation and common sense produced by the Hill Country Alliance, a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to raise public awareness and build community support around the need to preserve the natural resources and heritage of the Texas Hill Country. For more information: hillcountryalliance.org and rainwaterrevival.com.
