New Page 3

Text Box: 2008 Soil & Water Stewardship Week (April 29 to May 6, 2007)

Water is Life

Text Box: McCone Conservation District encourages you to think about your personal responsibility to be a good steward of the natural resources, including water, during its 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.

Text Box: ROLLING RIVER TRAILERS
MACD has purchased three trailers that will be used to teach not only stream dynamics but water principals as well. Loaded with several pounds of sand and a self-contained tank for pumping and re-circulating water, these bright blue utility trailers are ready to provide water awareness to Montanans. The Rolling River Trailer is a 5 foot by 10 foot trailer with an six-inch deep trailer bed that filled with sand like substance made from recycled plastic granules. A meandering river or two is scooped out running from one end to the trailer to the other. Small figures of livestock, houses, farm building, corrals, a parking lot with cars, farm equipment are placed on top of the sand to form a realistic community. When the water is turned on at the top of the watershed, it flows through the river and can be used to demonstrate a variety of water lessons including:
River energy: Sprinkle a handful of alluvium at the top of the “watershed” and watch it be carried along in the water.
Riparian areas:
With vegetation in place along the riverbank the banks remain stable. Remove some of the foliage, and erosion occurs as water cuts into the banks. Turn the water on full force as in a flood situation and the riverbank begins to break down and collapses even faster. This demonstrates the principles of healthy versus unhealthy riparian area vegetation.
Non-point pollution:
Simulated rain on the parking lot above the river demonstrates how pollution is carried into streams.
Effects of diversion:
Using PVC pipe to create irrigation ditches slows down the speed of the water. Stopping the water entirely by creating a dam causes other effects and changes in the landscape. The concepts and issues can be customized to meet the needs of our local watershed. This educational tool can be used indoors or out. The lessons taught are limited only by the imagination of the teachers using it.
For more information on the Rolling River Trailer, you contact Jeanne Kirkegard at the McCone Conservation District.

                   2004 National Poster Contest                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     1st Place Digital Art Category,
                  Melanie M. Mothershead
                  Circle High School , Montana
                  McCone Conservation District