Dear Editor,

The Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts (IASWCD) and our 92 Soil and Water Conservation Districts encourage you to think about your personal responsibility to be a good steward of our natural resources, including water, during our annual Stewardship Week celebration.

The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) has proclaimed April 27 to May 4, 2008, as Stewardship Week with the theme Water is Life.

The Earth’s water is in constant motion in the process known as the hydrologic (water) cycle.  There is no beginning or end to the hydrologic cycle. Water available to users can change due to the cycles of weather and changes in water quality. Throughout time, the same water has been transferred into the Earth’s atmosphere and dropped on land again where it follows the water cycle through plants, soil, water bodies, animals and clouds. That means the water we use today is the same water that was here when dinosaurs roamed the land. What can we do? Become aware of water quality and quantity in your community. Understand how watersheds work.
We all live in a watershed. Watersheds are the places we call home, where we work and where we play.

Everyone relies on water and other natural resources to exist. What you and others do on the land impacts the quality and quantity of water and our other natural resources. Managing the water and other natural resources is an effective and efficient way to sustain the local economy and environmental health of our communities.
Your county Soil and Water Conservation District was formed to help Indiana residents conserve land, water, forests, wildlife and related natural resources that encompass our state’s 23 million acres.

The Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts and our 92 SWCDs share a single mission: to coordinate assistance from available sources - public and private, local, state and federal in an effort to develop locally driven solutions to natural resource concerns.

“Districts across Indiana are helping landowners, homeowners and businesses learn how to conserve water, from simple lifestyle adjustments to large scale rural, agricultural, suburban and urban conservation practices and projects,” said IASWCD President Jim Droege, a Posey County farmer.

The IASWCD and your county SWCD is a member of the National Association of Conservation Districts which oversees the Stewardship Week program.  Stewardship Week, which began in 1955, is one of the largest national annual programs to promote
conservation. 

NACD represents the nation’s 3,000 conservation Districts, which were established to encourage resource conservation across the country.

For information about Stewardship Week and conservation, contact your local Soil and Water Conservation District – click on your county.

Click here www.iaswcd.org to learn more about the IASWCD, our 92 SWCDs, the Indiana Conservation Partnership and Stewardship Week.

Jim Droege, President
Indiana Association of Soil and
Water Conservation District