WILLOW WOOD – The Lawrence Soil and Water Conservation District has received a financial boost from the state for the third year in a row.

Tuesday, March 05, 2002

WILLOW WOOD – The Lawrence Soil and Water Conservation District has received a financial boost from the state for the third year in a row.

Lawrence County’s office was one of eight soil and water districts selected by the state’s Department of Natural Resources to receive grant money for nonpoint source water pollution education programs.

The county SWCD received $7,500 from the state to continue its education program.

"These grants enable local conservation districts to hire effective teachers for providing water quality education at local schools, farmer workshops and community forums," ODNR director Sam Speck said.

The county’s program, district technician Matthew Capper said, targets educational programs in the schools and for the general public, agricultural producers and civic groups.

Capper said the agency’s education coordinator, Carrie Cheek, who was at an education conference in Columbus at presstime, gives presentations in the county’s schools, teaching students about nonpoint source pollution.

In order to stress how nonpoint source pollution ends up in the waterways, Capper said, the agency has a number of environmental models that can be utilized in the classroom.

Nonpoint source pollution, Capper explained, is pollution that makes its way to the water table, but the source of the pollution cannot be clearly identified. This type of pollution can include agricultural runoff and pollution that drains into waterways from highways, backyards and construction sites.