Developing Farmer-Driven Rainwater Harvesting Education through Demonstration and Research

Commodities

Practices

• Crop Production: irrigation
• Education and Training: demonstration, extension, participatory research
• Natural Resources/Environment: other

Project Focus: Alternative irrigation water sources are increasingly necessary given the impact of reduced precipitation and surface water and groundwater availability. Additionally, urban farmers frequently have limited access to irrigation water sources, with many relying on municipal water. Mid-Atlantic farmers, from urban to peri-urban and small to medium operations, can benefit from additional high-quality irrigation water to enhance resilience. Harvested rainwater could provide a sustainable and economically feasible supplemental irrigation water source for Mid-Atlantic farmers, aligning with farmers' priorities. However, based on our previous engagement with Maryland farmers, there is a critical need to develop farmer education programs that explain and demonstrate how to safely harvest rainwater for irrigation use, access funding, and assess long-term costs and benefits. Approximately 56% (10/18) of Maryland farmers, surveyed in 2024-2025 by our team, expressed interest in rainwater harvesting, and 39% currently harvest. However, lack of knowledge about design (40%) and construction (47%), along with water quality concerns (13%), were identified as barriers to implementing this practice. Further, there is potential for farmers to fund rainwater harvesting and treatment system installation using programs such as the USDA Environmental Quality Incentives (EQIP) cost-share program, but both USDA staff and farmers have expressed a need for technical assistance in fitting small-scale rainwater harvesting into EQIP practice standards.

Solution and Approach: We propose a multipronged education and research program to engage farmers and address their needs for more education on rainwater harvesting design, construction, funding, and safe use. We will leverage our existing rainwater harvesting and treatment systems, built at the University of Maryland Central Maryland Research and Education Center (CMREC) in Upper Marlboro, and Plantation Park Heights Urban Farm in Baltimore City, to create demonstration sites where farmers can learn about design, construction, and treatment to reduce food safety risks. To better understand individual farm needs, we will conduct in-person site visits to assess rainwater harvesting feasibility and develop site-specific recommendations at interested farms. To expand our reach, we will conduct virtual site assessments for farms throughout the region and optimize recommendation templates. We will create a series of best practices videos and written guides. To address questions raised by farmers about rainwater harvesting funding, we will work with local, state, and federal agricultural agencies to identify funding opportunities through existing mechanisms (ex. EQIP), determine system cost ranges to inform subsidy and cost share levels, and develop guides for farmers to navigate these processes. Our research will complement our education by offering site visit participants water testing to better understand current irrigation water quality. We will also evaluate water and food safety concerns raised by farmers through our previous projects including contamination sources, nutritional impacts on crops, and seasonal impacts on water quality.

5 Mid-Atlantic farmers will design and install rainwater harvesting and treatment systems, capturing 20,285 gallons (76 m³) of rainwater per collection surface in one summer to be used for irrigation (assuming capture from a 30 ft x 72 ft high tunnel) resulting in reduced stormwater volume and pollution, and saving $100 per farm on stormwater fees per year.