The Campsite at Shield Ranch

Overview

  • Category: Educational
  • Organization Location: Austin, Texas; Travis County
  • Activity: Meets 100 percent of needs with rainwater collection while serving as a model for sustainability.

Background

The Campsite at Shield Ranch is a completely off-grid nature immersion camp that provides lessons in sustainability and conservation. The Campsite’s rainwater harvesting system has a storage capacity of 67,800 gallons that consists of two reservoirs and two cisterns. As a pilot project, the primary goal of the Campsite’s rainwater system was to demonstrate alternatives and pave a permitting process for other Texans to construct more sustainably. The system also serves as a living, learning model that draws community and sustainability-focused tour groups to the Campsite to learn about rainwater harvesting.

2024 winners: