Harvesting rain: Rain barrel program sparks local interest
By Hilary Lewis
As Culpeper's farmers and gardeners gird for what could be another dry summer, some have turned to alternative methods to protect their crops from drought.
Headed by the Culpeper Soil and Water Conservation District (CSWCD), a new program to conserve water through the use of rain barrels has sparked local interest.
More than 200 residents have signed up for the district's rain barrel workshops, proof the area is still reeling from the effects of last year's drought, which sent town residents into mandatory water restrictions and dried up hundreds of wells in the county.
"Those people who attended our first workshop in May last year, everybody who had a garden, they were the only people in their neighborhoods with healthy gardens and healthy lawns, and also the only ones driving around with clean cars in the middle of July," said Stephanie DeNicola-Turner, Education/Information Coordinator for the CSWCD.
In 2007, Culpeper received little over half of its normal rainfall totals, suffering through 12 months of below-average precipitation.
Lake Pelham dropped to nearly 42 inches below normal elevation last September, prompting the town to move into mandatory restrictions on outdoor watering for the first time in history.
Governor Tim Kaine designated Culpeper and other Virginia counties as primary natural disaster areas due to reductions in farm production caused by drought and high temperatures.
To conserve water and protect Virginia's drying streams and ponds, Clean Virginia Waterways, a non-profit organization based at Longwood University, started the rain barrel program through a partnership with Mt. Olive Pickle Company of North Carolina.
"They pickle in India and the U.S. says they can't use the barrels again, so they are basically a waste product. They either throw them out, or recycle them, or put them in storage," said DeNicola-Turner. "Mt. Olive happily said they would give away the barrels and as long as people come to pick them up, they'll give them away for free."
The CSWCD got involved in the pickle barrel project last May, after receiving a grant from the state, and gave away 100 barrels at its first workshop.
The CSWCD held its latest rain barrel workshop on Saturday, April 26 at Mt. Vernon Farm in Sperryville, with people who purchased 63 barrels.
Each barrel is then fitted with a faucet, an overflow adapter, and a screen for keeping out debris and mosquitoes. A hose can be used to connect barrels for overflow. Depending on the size of the roof, the barrels can be filled to the brim with just a quarter of an inch of rain. A 1,200 square-foot roof could produce 700 gallons of water from just one inch of rain.
"There's a part of the water code in the commonwealth that says that when water falls from the sky, if you collect it before it hits the ground, it belongs to you. If it hits the ground, it becomes property of the municipality and they can charge you for it," DeNicola-Turner said.
Besides saving money, there are a number of environmental benefits to using rain barrels. Runoff from outdoor watering can cause erosion, plus carry fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals into streams. Rain barrels manage peak storm runoff.
Rainwater also has no added chemicals and is usually free of dissolved minerals. This untreated water is great for indoor plants, gardens and lawns, washing cars, and birdbaths.
Lignum resident Stacy Parker uses her rain barrel for watering her vegetables and flowers around the house. She has seen the benefits of using rain water instead of water from her well.
"My garden is actually doing better than the other places because it's rain water," she said. "I'm all for conservation. I was really concerned with all the wells going dry last year. We do a lot of recycling and stuff, and we try to throw our dishwater on our garden."
Likewise, gardener Reid Anderson, was concerned about conservation. That's why he signed up for the workshop.
"Last year was so bad with the drought, my garden was a flop," Anderson said. "Conservation of water is important because we don't have enough in the world with all the dry conditions. Look at what the drought did last year."
Thus far this year the Virginia Drought Monitoring Task Force reported normal statewide precipitation for the month of March through April 18, but said it had "very little effect on accumulated precipitation deficits across the commonwealth."
In turn, the CSWCD has had non-stop calls from people wanting rain barrels, to the point where a waiting list has been established to handle the demand.
"I had people wanting four or five. One guy called and said he wanted 12," DeNicola-Turner said. The waiting list is currently up to over 200 people.
"We have to all think about this. If you live on a well and have a drought summer, you think about it," said Rappahannock resident Helen Williams. "My rain water will be for the gardens, but it wouldn't do anything for my 55 acres."
You may contact Hilary Lewis at 825-9882 or email hlewis@timespapers.com