Soil and Water Stewardship Week

April 30 - May 7, 2006

The Story Soil and Water Conservation District wants to show you how to be water wise during its annual Soil and Water Stewardship Week celebration. The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) has proclaimed April 30 to May 7, 2006 as Stewardship Week, with the theme "Water Wise".

Water is vital to our life. Water makes up more than 60% of our body, and about 75% of our brain. Water helps make possible our every movement, thought, and feeling. All of our food and most other products we use require water. It takes about 4,000 gallons of water to grow a bushel of corn, and about 11,000 gallons for a bushel of wheat.

Many of us take our water supplies for granted. But a large network of private and government agencies help protect, treat, and deliver our water. In the United States, over 53,000 community water treatment systems deliver drinking water to millions of people. Over 13,000,000 private wells provide water to families and businesses. Agriculture, electric power generation, industry, and transportation all depend on water resources. This precious resource will become increasingly scarce as we place more demands on fresh water supplies.

To ensure future water supplies, we need to learn about water resources, and plan to use them carefully. To help achieve this goal, NACD has chosen "Water Wise" as the theme for the 2006 Soil and Water Stewardship Week celebration. More information on this theme is available on the Stewardship Website at http://stewardshipweek.com.

Soil and Water Stewardship Week is over 50 years old. Since 1955, the National Association of Conservation Districts has sponsored the national Soil and Water Stewardship Week program. Stewardship involves personal and social responsibility. We need to learn about and improve natural resources as we use them wisely. This will enrich our own lives and leave a strong legacy for future generations.

Soil and Water Stewardship Week helps reminds us of the power of each person to conserve natural resources and improve the world. When people work together with their local conservation district, that power grows and grows. And as these good deeds multiply across the nation's network of conservation districts, the results can be spectacular!

For information about Stewardship Week and conservation, contact the Story Soil and Water Conservation District office at (515) 382-2217 or visit the website at www.story-swcd.org. You can learn more about NACD and Stewardship Week at www.stewardshipweek.com. You don't have to be a wise old owl to find out how to be water wise.

--Jerry Radke, Story Soil and Water District Commissioner