Article Written By: Zane Liston
Last month, the Watershed Association continued our Land. Water. Connection series, an ongoing educational program to connect landowners, neighbors, and community members with the knowledge and tools to become active stewards of our aquifers, springs, creeks, and rivers. What better than a field trip to a living example of a regenerative oasis in Blanco? Pete Van Dyck of Van Dyck Earthworks & Design gave us a tour of his amazing 12-year project to catch rain on his hillsides, and the principles really spoke for themselves!
The relationship between rain, plants, and soil health.
Pete’s presentation was an immersive experience that changed your whole perception. He showed the audience why drought and flooding can be mutually managed with the same strategies. To mitigate drought, we have to harvest as much rainfall as possible during the heavy downpours and store it in the soil, as high up in the landscape as possible. To mitigate floods, we do the same. We learned that for soils to absorb water, plants must be present.
An incredible fact: every 1% of organic matter in your soil has the ability to hold roughly 27,000 gallons of water per acre, the equivalent of a full inch of rain. Most Hill Country soils have around 1% organic matter or less. Increase that organic matter to 3%, and you’ve nearly tripled your land’s ability to store. That’s the difference between a landscape that speeds up a dangerous flood and one that drinks in water, slowly recharging the springs and aquifers we all depend on. Pete’s work in the Hill Country demonstrates a rapid regeneration approach – sometimes nearing that 1-3% increase in spongy topsoil in a single season, tripling the capacity of the soils to recharge your well, or protect your land from erosion.
Much of Texas’s land is characterized by a lack of living plants, which creates a lack of living topsoil. Soil fertility is the foundation of soil rehydration, and when rain hits degraded, bare, or compacted soil, it runs off instead of soaking into the ground. By keeping the ground covered with living plants, building topsoil, and slowing water high on the landscape with simple techniques like rock berms, brush dams, and terraces, we can store water where it falls, feed our springs year-round, and buffer against the boom-bust cycles that define Texas weather.
These strategies are the core of what Pete calls Drought Proof Texas, a mission to rehydrate the entire state, one acre at a time, through regenerative, biologically rich soils. Using his methods, like keyline plowing of hay fields, and soil and water conservation terraces high on the land, will have a real impact over time across the watershed and the State. His mission is to encourage private landowners to opt into techniques that increase their resilience and improve the beauty of degraded landscapes.
Why the Land.Water.Connection Education Series is important:
Ninety-eight percent of Texas land is privately owned. That means the future of our rivers, aquifers, and springs, including the Blanco, San Marcos Springs, and ultimately Barton Springs, is in the hands of private landowners. The Land. Water. Connection Education Series was built to educate and sustain a stewardship community. Each event brings together the science, the people, and the practical techniques so that everyone can leave with applicable knowledge to take action, whether you live in a neighborhood or manage 5,000 acres.
We are fortunate to collaborate with many of the great hearts and minds stewarding the Texas Hill Country. For more information about land management and stewardship, look for the launch of Project Bedrock’s D-MAP tool this summer. The tool is being facilitated by Elizabeth McGreevy, ecologist and cedar expert, alongside a large group of stakeholders and researchers. Also, check out Symbiosis Texas long-form videos that show land management in the field. Symbiosis is a collaborative partner with Drought Proof Texas on some incredible projects across the region.
Stay connected through the Watershed Association newsletter and Instagram, and stay tuned for our Fall event dates coming soon!