Boots on the Ground

From one mile high to over two miles high in an hour and a half to the Continental Divide!  This bus tour was the summarizing event of our NACD conference in Denver!

 

 At Berthoud Pass, 11,307’ elevation and verified by the elevation app on my smart phone, my mind was racing about seeing the "Headwaters" of the Colorado River that supports life and agriculture for 19 down river states and extending into Mexico. All from the Colorado Rockies snowfall and resulting snow pack.

 From the snow melt, water is captured, impounded, banked, dispersed, allocated, and/or diverted back to eastern Colorado through 16 channels and pipes to 80% of the states population and main agricultural region.

     The states population is growing at an alarming rate not necessarily from liberal marijuana use, but more from industrial growth and preferred lifestyles.

     My conclusion and take away, after 38 years of teaching high school soils and conservation and 18 years with Wood SWCD, water use and soil conservation, along with the new healthy soils movement, now has urgency. This urgency takes on higher meaning when we combine the loss of agricultural land to development of 9 acres per hour while the world’s population grows 9,000 during the same hour.

     Hence we all need to be at the food table appreciating soils and conservation and especially "WATER"!

“Boots on the Ground” is an addition to our quarterly newsletter highlighting an experience, quotes, quips, and  commentary offered by the supervisors and staff of the district.  This edition was provided by Supervisor Bernie Scott.