Watershed Texas

Other than planting native plants and eliminating the use of fertilizers and pesticides you can also install a rainwater harvesting system and plant a rain garden. 

Rainwater harvesting captures, diverts, and stores rainwater for later use. You can collect rainwater in a large cistern, tank, or barrel. Harvested rainwater is an alternate water supply and stormwater management approach that anyone can use. It can reduce the amount of drinking water used for landscape irrigation. It reduces the demand on existing water supplies as well as decreases runoff, erosion, and contaminated surface water.

A rain garden is a shallow excavated area in the soil that is planted as a garden and designed to capture rainfall from impervious surfaces such as roofs, sidewalks, streets, and parking lots. Rain gardens slow the flow of stormwater, allowing some of it to soak into the soil. They allow us to keep more of the rain that falls on our yards. When designed properly, water in a rain garden should stand for no more than 24 to 48 hours, too short a period for mosquitoes to hatch.

The plants, soil, and mulch in the rain garden filter the rest of the stormwater, making it cleaner when it finally enters the storm drain. Planted with native plants, rain gardens also function as habitat for wildlife such as birds and butterflies.