Fresno Residents Catch Rain Water For Gardens

From popcorn buckets to ice chests.

"Anything I could find, I was pulling out from the garage as I was going, I was soaking wet! I had to go back inside and change," Fresno resident Ana Lydia Chavez said.

Drop by drop, Chavez collected rain water.

"I was just about to leave to class when I said wow, all this rain. What can I do with all this rain?" Chavez said.

Chavez discovered she can do a lot, collecting over 60 gallons. She’s already started watering her trees and hopes one day to bring back her garden.

"I felt empowered. I thought ‘wow I can do this.’ If so many other people can think about this, we can help our community," Chavez said.

Chavez says she plans to continue collecting water, but hopes to get bigger containers like the ones at Fresno Ag Hardware.

"When it rains, you can collect rain water, which you can use for your garden," Asst. Manager John Letlow said.

Letlow says they had requests from customers to start stocking rain barrels. To use, he says customers just need to place them under their gutters and start collecting.

"To conserve water and conserve energy, that’s the future. And we really need to you know do what we can to do our part," Letlow said.

Chavez says times have changed, and that conservation is more important now than ever before.

"Just getting used to saving out water, because for so long, we’ve taken it for grant it," Letlow said.

The rain barrels run about a $ 100 a piece at Fresno Ag Hardware.

Chavez says she plans to collect rain water as much as she can so next year, she can bring back her garden.