Water: Keep Watching
December 12, 2015 Last year about this time — that is, late fall as we put the finishing touches on our editorial calendar — we discussed at length what special features or issues we wanted to tackle throughout the year 2015.
Many were thrown out, but the one that seemed completely obvious was watershed protection. In short order, our monthly Water Watch series was conceived.
We started scratching out all the dimensions we could cover over the course of 12 months, and it didn’t take long to create many more months of content than we had available.
In the trade press, you’re always striving to develop ideas that also resonate commercially, and while we did have a few sponsors along the way, that was never a benchmark for the success of this project.
Our goal was to highlight the challenges, and the challenged regions of our country, in terms of watershed quality and quantity. We also wanted to share stories of committed companies and organizations trying to make a positive difference through a range of volunteer efforts.
We covered the development of best management practices for nutrient use in Florida, where efforts are geared to reducing nitrate loads into the Everglades. We also profiled a three-state 4R Certification program for retailers that brought together a wide array of stakeholders, including The Nature Conservancy, the Ohio AgriBusiness Association, the Ohio Department of Agriculture to work toward solving the problem of nutrient intrusion in the western basin of Lake Erie.
The stories, delivered expertly by our contributing editor Lisa Heacox, revealed that we are doing much, but much still needs to be done. As we make progress toward establishing best practices, then testing, re-testing, and fine-tuning those best practices over time, we must remind ourselves that this is going to be a long journey. We did not get to where we are today in a year, or two years, or even a decade.
But it is a worthy effort. A journalism friend of mine has relatives in Wisconsin, and he recently reported on Facebook that his dad needed to purchase a well water purification system for nitrates and atrazine. His dad also lamented that two brand new wells dug to service the nearby city of Prairie du Sac turned up with unacceptably high levels of nitrates.
The year has come to a close on Water Watch, but the watch will continue, as it should, for years to come.
I want to close out this column by wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous and successful New Year! I say it to anyone who asks me, and a few who don’t but need to know — I enjoy every day that I get to cover this market. The people are top notch, the hospitality is wonderful, and the professionalism I encounter across the country is very, very gratifying.
Come what may, I can’t wait to get started in 2016.
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