Are you an avid gardener, are you interested in reducing storm water runoff within your neighborhood, or looking for a way to improve water quality within your watershed? Then using a rain barrel to harvest rain water is a good first step.

The Cumberland County Improvement Authority will sponsor two Build-A-Rain Barrel workshops in cooperation with Cousteau Center at Bridgeton, Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Salem and Cumberland counties, AmeriCorps NJ Watershed Ambassadors Program and Cumberland County Master Gardeners. The workshops will be held on Saturday, March 26 from 2 to 5 p.m. and Wednesday, April 13 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Rutgers Extension Education Center located at 291 Morton Ave., in Deerfield Township. There is a $35 cost to residents for the course and supplies.

These hands-on workshops are designed to educate participants on the benefits of rainwater harvesting. Workshop participants will receive instructions and all the necessary supplies to build a rain barrel, which they will construct at the workshop. Participants will leave the workshop with a completed rain barrel from food-grade containers, collected at the Authority's Solid Waste Complex, ready for installation at their homes.

Harvesting rainwater has many benefits, such as conserving water, saving money and reducing flooding around your house. An 800-square-foot roof can produce 500 gallons of water during a 1-inch rain event at one downspout. The harvested rainwater can be utilized a variety of ways from watering your plants and lawn to washing off garden tools.

The workshops will result in approximately 60 rain barrels being installed throughout the tri-county area.

For more information, or to register for one of the workshops, please call Viola at (856) 451-2800, ext. 4.