Press Release: AgriLife Extension Agent Urges Citizens to Join Challenge to Save Texas Water
Feb. 28, 2013
AgriLife Extension agent urges citizens to join challenge to save Texas water
Writer: Steve Byrns, 325-653-4576,
Contact: Jesse Lea Schneider, 432-729-4746,
PRESIDIO – Saving millions of gallons of water annually is the goal of the new 40-Gallon Challenge program and one Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service official in arid Presidio County feels citizens here are up to the challenge.
“If anyone knows the value of water learned mostly through living with a lack of it, we do,” said Jesse Lea Schneider, AgriLife Extension agent in Presidio County. “Our county’s annual rainfall is just short of 11 inches, so by necessity, we know a thing or two about water conservation just by living here. That’s why learning even more through this program is a perfect fit for us.”
The 40 Gallon Challenge is a national voluntary program that calls on residents and businesses to drop their average water use by 40 gallons a day, according to Dr. Diane Boellstorff, theAgriLife Extension water resources specialist in College Station who serves as the program’s Texas representative.
In a recent news release Boellstorff was quoted as saying the 40-Gallon Challenge allows Texans to compete with citizens from other states who are taking the challenge to not only save water, but also dollars on their water bills.
Schneider urges all area residents to sign up online at .
“The site is very easy to navigate, and changes constantly as new users sign up,” Schneider said. “You can hover over the map of any county in the state to see how many residents have pledged to save water and how much water they are saving.
“This whole challenge is a total win-win program,” Schneider said. “The state wins through a major accumulative savings of precious water and the citizens win not only through helping to ensure a constant supply of water through stepped up water conservation efforts, but also monetarily through lowered monthly water bills.
Otherlesssubtle benefits include healthier landscapes resulting from less frequent, but more effective irrigations and the use of adapted ornamentals that need far less watering and pampering than many of the species now used around the home that are dying from our heat and drought.”
Schneider urged anyone with questions to contact her for more information at 432-729-4746 or email her at .