Rainwater Harvesting
Demonstration and
Education for El Paso
County Colonlas

U.S. - Mexico
Border Program

January 2021

Texas/New Mexico/Chihuahua/Coahuila/Nuevo Leon/Tamaulipas
www.epa.gov/usmexicoborder

Along the US-Mexico Border, approximately
2,300 colonias exist in the state of Texas.
Colonias, or unincorporated communities, are
substandard housing developments that lack
basic services such as drinking water, sewage
treatment, and paved roads, which can lead to
several public health issues for residents.
Residents often must purchase and haul water
to their residence for both indoor and outdoor
uses. In 2015, the University of Texas at El
Paso (UTEP) - Center for Environmental
Resource Management (CERM) began working
with colonias in West Texas - Presidio County
to help residents of the colonia, Las Pampas,
to bring a low-cost alternative to help
residents support irrigation of their landscape.
Dr. William Hargrove of CERM, worked with
UTEP students to develop and pilot a rainwater
harvesting system. The success of this system
showcased how this low-cost, sustainable
option could help residents of colonias cut
down on their purchased water costs during
those times that rainwater could be used to
meet this need.

UTEP's CERM received a Border 2020 Program
grant to design a rainwater harvesting system
for colonias in El Paso County to help provide a
means of reducing the amount of water
residents need to haul for landscaping, outdoor
gardening and/or their animals. Over a period
of 1.5 years, UTEP students helped to install

one system in the Montana Vista Colonia and two
systems in the Cochran Colonia. Throughout the
process, the project team filmed and documented
their work to develop a training video on how to
build and install a rainwater harvest system that is
available for the public to use. In addition to the
video, a how-to guide in both English and Spanish
is available as well. All of these products are
available at:

https: / / rai nwaterharvesti ngdemo, weeblv.com/.
In total, depending on the need of the resident,
the total cost of the installation with materials for
a colonia resident is approximately $1000 - 1,000
USD (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Rainwater harvest system at mobile home in
Cochran Colonia, El Paso County, Texas.

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Rainwater Harvesting
Demonstration and Education
for El Paso County Colonias

Page 2

As the rainwater systems were installed (Figure 2),
colonia neighbors of those who had these systems
installed, are now wanting similar systems for their own
home. In addition, several agencies and non-
governmental entities within the region and state are now
interested in replicating this project having seen its
success and satisfaction with colonias residents. This
project has not just provided a benefit to border colonia
residents but valuable knowledge and hands-on field work
for both undergraduate and graduate students at UTEP.

Figure 2. UTEP students installing rainwater harvest
system at home in Cochran Colonia, El Paso County,
Texas

"Our work on rainwater harvesting in colonias
has been some of the most gratifying work of
my career of over 40 years. Rainwater
harvesting is not the sole solution but
provides a means to reduce the reliance on
hauled water for many colonias residents. It
is an affordable and manageable technology.
It also has provided our students wonderful
opportunities to get hands-on experience in
installing this technology in a team setting,
and experience in community research and
outreach." - Dr. William Hargrove

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