The concept itself has been around forever, attributed to the thoughts of Greek philosopher Heraclitus. Personally, as a creature of habit, the thought of change has always brought a sense of anxiousness because I am simply human and humans like routine. It makes us feel in control of our surroundings and in effect, in control of our lives. As I look out the window, I am witnessing nature’s constant reminder of change with the fall season upon us. The leaves have started to paint the fall landscape of 2025, and, while I dread the winter months, fall has a way of ushering it in with absolute beauty.
I have been blessed to have spent the better part of the last 15 years in the soil and water world, and, in that time, there have undoubtedly been many changes.
The changing of SWCD
At the beginning of my career in 2010, it was the start of documented distress and poor water quality in Grand Lake St. Marys. As a result, nutrient management became priority number one in the Buckeye State.
Then, 2011 brought in a multi-year funding program for cover crop cost-share in the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District. This program was designed to offer producers a cost-share payment for planting winter crops, thus reducing nutrient load in the watershed waterways. The program was coordinated by the then Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Soil and Water Conservation and the MWCD.
In the summer of 2012, the Electric Power Research Institute signed an agreement with Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky to introduce a public-private collaboration that would encourage facilities with high pollution to buy reduction credits from farmers and other entities who implement conservation practices on their farms to reduce the nitrogen and phosphorus loads.
In January 2016, the Ohio Department of Agriculture took over the state’s soil and water conservation districts from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources through House Bill 64. With that change, it brought oversight of all agricultural nutrient application, including manure handling for small, medium and large livestock facilities and placed them under one department.
The Ohio Senate Bill 299 was signed in 2018 and with it $23.5 million disbursed to SWCDs located within the Western Lake Erie Basin for nutrient management programs. ODA distributed $3.5 million to 24 SWCDs located in northwest Ohio. The remaining $20 million was spent on three new assistance programs: Ohio Working Lands Program, Voluntary Nutrient Management Plan Development Program and Cost Share and Equipment Buy Down Program.
Continuing forward, the H2Ohio Initiative was created in 2019 and provided ODA, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and ODNR with significantly more funding. This greatly increased the state match dollars SWCD received, allowing them to implement more water quality improvement practices.
The end of 2020 saw Ohio legislature passing House Bill 7, which created a statewide Watershed Planning and Management Program while directing ODA to implement a pilot program to assist farmers and other landowners in phosphorus reduction.
The 2021 crop season saw H2Ohio expanding from 14 counties within the Maumee River Watershed to include an additional 10 counties, encompassing the remainder of the WLEB. This allowed participants to develop nutrient management plans and implement additional conservation practices. To date, the H2Ohio program has grown to encompass the remaining 64 counties in the state and offers nutrient management plans at all levels of conservation with a goal of 500,000 acres, which was achieved with the assistance of SWCDs across the state.
Summer of 2024 was a very challenging one for livestock and crop producers across the southeastern part of the state with the drought conditions. Legislators passed Senate Bill 54, which released $10 million to farmers impacted for relief funding and, in the first half of 2025, payments were made to applicants.
The changing faces of SWCD
With enough time there is guaranteed to be new faces — that is expected and welcomed. With new programs and funding comes additional staff, and the outreach they provide has undoubtedly grown. It is exciting to see SWCD newsletters across the state hit my email filled with programs offered in every county. New faces are part of our journey through life and that is no different in soil and water districts. Each county has its own uniqueness and specialty offered through each of their team members. The common thread among all conservationists is the fulfillment that comes from helping others. Our career is that of service, and nothing brings us more joy than helping landowners find benefits to them and their operations.
As I have matured, my anxiety has softened. We are all impacted by change. Some we can control, but most we cannot. I have no crystal ball for 2026, however, I know we will be met with change, and my hope is with that change, we all grow into a better version of what we want to be. It is my opinion that soil and water has done just that!
