MAHASKA COUNTY SOIL & WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT CELEBRATES SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION WEEK!

Oskaloosa News

Oskaloosa News

This year Iowa celebrates its 77th Soil & Water Conservation Week, April 29th – May 6th. The celebration is part of the nationally celebrated Soil and Water Stewardship Week. The theme is “Watersheds; Our Water, Our Home!”

The Mahaska County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) was organized in February 1942. For the past 76 years the Mahaska Soil & Water Conservation District has been a leader in promoting soil conservation and water quality in the County. The Mahaska SWCD wants to remind you that each of us has a connection to natural resources and depend on them for our very livelihood.

Don Willemsen acts as Chairman for the Mahaska County SWCD. The District was formed to provide leadership in soil conservation, soil health, water quality and the protection of Iowa’s natural resources. Since 2005, the Mahaska SWCD has sponsored the Muchakinock Creek Watershed Project. To date, over 222,018 feet of terraces and water and sediment control basins, 9 grade stabilization structures, 574 acres of abandoned coal mine reclamation, and 240 acres of cover crop demonstration plots have been completed in the watershed.

Watersheds, Our Water, Our Home, was the theme of the Mahaska SWCD’s Mahaska Ag. Day station. In April over 240 3rd grade students in Mahaska County learned how rural and urban watersheds function and their importance to our everyday lives. The Mahaska SWCD will also help sponsor a Women Land and Legacy learning workshop for women farmers and landowners on June 18th, 2018 entitled “Why I Farm”.

“Clean water is important to everyone,” says National Association of Conservation Districts Past President Earl Garber. “Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes. They cross county, state and national boundaries. Every inch of the land on planet Earth is part of a watershed. In the continental U.S., there are 2,100 watersheds; if we include Hawaii, Alaska and Puerto Rico, the count rises to 2,267. No matter where you are right now, you are in a watershed.” Take time to learn about your local community water supply sources, and volunteer for river, stream or beach clean-up days. You can make a difference!

To find out more about your local watershed, including an app for your computer and smart phone, visit: www.epa.gov/mywaterway.

For more information about Soil & Water Conservation Week and conservation, contact the Mahaska County Soil and Water Conservation District at 641-673-3476 or stop by the office at 2503 Todd St, Oskaloosa Ia. 52577. Additional information about the “Watersheds: Our Water, Our home” program and other useful resource education is available on the NACD website at http://www.nacdnet.org/general-resources/stewardship-and-education-materials/2018-watersheds-water-home/.

The National Association of Conservation Districts is the non-profit organization that represents the nation’s 3,000 conservation districts, their state associations and the 17,000 men and women who serve on their governing boards. For more 70 years, local conservation districts have worked with cooperating landowners and managers of private working lands to help them plan and apply effective conservation practices. NACD’s website is at www.nacdnet.org.

Posted by on Apr 29 2018. Filed under State News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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