This month I had the opportunity to attend a Steering Committee Meeting in beautiful Mammoth Springs, Arkansas. The steering committee is associated with the USDA- NRCS South Missouri Water Quality Project. The local Soil and Water Conservation District gave a presentation on what they are working on, but I was most impressed with the presentation on Soil Quality: The Building Block to Water Quality. Steve Hefner, Team Leader for SMWQ demonstrated the importance of good soil and how it affects the quality of water. In the picture, you will see two glass jars filled with water. Inside them they had a piece of fence to hold the clump of soil. The jar on the right had dirt from a man’s farm that sat right under a fence line. It is for the most part untouched by humans and animals. The jar on the left held a dirt clump from the same man’s garden area that is regularly tilled and worked.
As you can see, the jar on the left is murky and the water on the top even has a film on it, while the jar on the right is clean and clear. The clump of dirt on the left just fell apart. It was like watching a mini mudslide. Loose pieces here and there fell off initially in the jar on the right, but as time went on, it slowed down and never was the water brown. The amount of time this picture was taken was about 10 minutes after Steve gently placed the clumps of soil in the jar. At about 15 minutes, there wasn’t much left of the clump on the left while the clump on the right was still there.
Moral of the story, be nice to your land, don’t over graze or till and when you are thinking about your water, don’t forget what’s holding it there in the first place.
Quick question- Which jar would you rather drink out of?
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