The Big Bend premier of “Treading West Texas Waters” will be at 7:30pm on Saturday, September 12 at The Crowley Theater in Marfa. This 30-minute documentary by Chris Hillen and Joe Cashiola explores regional water issues and potential pathways forward. Dixon Water Foundation President Robert Potts is featured in the documentary, an original production of Basin PBS. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Potts and Hillen, who will be joined by Alyson McDonald, Texas A&M AgriLife rangeland hydrology expert, and Kevin Urbanczyk, director of the Rio Grande Research Center and geology professor at Sul Ross State University.
MEDIA COVERAGE
Josey Pavilion beats hot summers without A/C
Inhabitat features the Josey Pavilion in a new article, “Solar-powered Josey Pavilion beats wicked hot Texas summers without air-conditioning,” by Lucy Wang:
One of Texas’ most eco-friendly structures is nestled in an unassuming native prairie landscape near Decatur. Named the Betty and Clint Josey Pavilion, the self-sufficient building promotes sustainable land management through education and demonstration. The 5,400-square foot open-air pavilion is 100 percent powered by solar, uses zero air conditioning, harvests rainwater, and treats all wastewater on-site. San Antonio-based firm Lake|Flato Architects designed the award-winning pavilion to meet the standards of the Living Building Challenge, a sustainable building certification system more rigorous than LEED or BREEAM.
Grant for soil microbe research in the news
Hardin-Simmons University researchers recently received a Dixon Water Foundation grant to explore how land management affects the subterranean world of soil microbes on a Runnels County ranch. Learn more in this article from Ballinger News and the video below from Abilene Fox affiliate KXVA. KRBC meteorologist Scott Cook also featured the research project on Abilene’s NBC affiliate.
Patrick Holden on Holistic Management
Patrick Holden, director of the Sustainable Food Trust and former director of the Soil Association, explains how Holistic Management and regenerative agriculture can heal many of society’s problems in this video interview from the Savory Institute. Holden is a dairyman in the UK raising heritage breed cows and producing some of the finest raw milk cheese in the world.
“The First Millimeter” highlights soil
A new PBS documentary, “The First Millimeter: Healing the Earth,” explains why the first millimeter of soil is critical to our collective future. Several Holistic Management practitioners from around the world share the practices they use to build healthy soils and vibrant communities.
“Growing grass to save water” in Texas Tribune
Colin McDonald recently finished his Disappearing Rio Grande expedition, during which he spent seven months traveling 1,900 miles from the river’s headwaters to its mouth. Along the way, he documented the river’s condition, the lives of people who depend on it, and efforts to conserve it. One of his stops last fall was Dixon Ranches Mimms Unit, where he visited with President and CEO Robert Potts. To honor the end of the project, we wanted to share again the article McDonald wrote for the Texas Tribune about how our ranch is decreasing the amount of sediment and increasing flows in the Rio Grande.
Environmental excellence award in Alpine newspaper
A film crew visited Dixon Ranches Mimms Unit this week to shoot a video for the Texas Environmental Excellence Awards ceremony in May, during which the foundation will receive one of the prestigious TCEQ awards for agriculture. Alpine Avalanche reporter Jim Street joined the crew and penned this article about the foundation.
Josey Pavilion featured in Texas Architect magazine
“There is a difference between appreciating nature and respecting nature. The Living Building Challenge and Josey Pavilion do both,” says Corey Squire in a new feature on the Josey Pavilion in Texas Architect this month.
Also this month the pavilion was selected as a finalist in the Architizer A+ Architecture Awards.
Gainesville Daily Register features foundation’s TEEA award
The Dixon Water Foundation’s Texas Environmental Excellence Award was featured in the Gainesville Daily Register.
“We’re deeply honored to be recognized by TCEQ and the governor’s office,” said Robert Potts, the foundation’s president and CEO in the article by Kit Chase. “We are thankful for all of the hard-working people and collaborative partnerships that make our ranches, as well as our grant and education programs, successful. And we hope this recognition sparks more interest in the sustainable grazing practices we demonstrate on our land.”
Dixon in txH20’s land and water stewardship issue
The Texas Water Resources Institute’s latest txH20 magazine is dedicated entirely to land and water stewardship and features the Dixon Water Foundation in “Committed to Conservation.” Another excellent article emphasizes that in Texas, conserving private lands conserves water, and starts with this quote from former President and Texas native Lyndon B. Johnson: “Saving the water and the soil must start where the first raindrop falls.”
