Photograph of Big Bend National Park, showing a part of the Tornillo Flats, where pitting was done last winter in strips. Where the pits are, they caught 2.4 inches of rain and was absorbed into the ground. A thick cover of annuals resulted, mostly 6-week grama, with some seedlings of perennials that were seeded following pitting. The strips not pitted are badly crusted and almost no water penetrated the soil. The area is almost bare. TX-48-176.

Photograph of a part of Tornillo Flats, Big Bend National Park, where pitting was done last winter in strips [i.e., creating pits that can capture water and prevent runoff). Where the pits are, they caught the rain of 2.4 inches and it was absorbed. A thick cover of annuals, mostly 6-weeks grama resulted, with some seedlings of perennials that were seeded following pitting. The strips not pitted are badly crusted and almost no water penetrated the soil. The area is almost bare. TX-48, 178.

Photograph of a part of Tornillo Flats, Big Bend National Park, where pitting was done last winter in strips [i.e., creating pits that can capture water and prevent runoff). Where the pits are, they caught the rain of 2.4 inches and it was absorbed. A thick cover of annuals, mostly 6-weeks grama resulted, with some seedlings of perennials that were seeded following pitting. The strips not pitted are badly crusted and almost no water penetrated the soil. The area is almost bare. TX-48, 178.

Photograph of a part of Tornillo Flats, Big Bend National Park, where pitting was done last winter in strips [i.e., creating pits that can capture water and prevent runoff). Where the pits are, they caught the rain of 2.4 inches and it was absorbed. A thick cover of annuals, mostly 6-weeks grama resulted, with some seedlings of perennials that were seeded following pitting. The strips not pitted are badly crusted and almost no water penetrated the soil. The area is almost bare. TX-48, 178.

Photograph of a part of Tornillo Flats, Big Bend National Park, where pitting was done last winter in strips [i.e., creating pits that can capture water and prevent runoff). Where the pits are, they caught the rain of 2.4 inches and it was absorbed. A thick cover of annuals, mostly 6-weeks grama resulted, with some seedlings of perennials that were seeded following pitting. The strips not pitted are badly crusted and almost no water penetrated the soil. The area is almost bare. TX-48, 178.

Photograph of a part of Tornillo Flats, Big Bend National Park, where pitting was done last winter in strips [i.e., creating pits that can capture water and prevent runoff). Where the pits are, they caught the rain of 2.4 inches and it was absorbed. A thick cover of annuals, mostly 6-weeks grama resulted, with some seedlings of perennials that were seeded following pitting. The strips not pitted are badly crusted and almost no water penetrated the soil. The area is almost bare. TX-48, 178.