Arbor Day

Arbor Day events run the spectrum from poster contests to community tree plantings. It offers a unique opportunity to promote the value of trees with respect to water quality, especially for preventing soil erosion.

See more on planning an Arbor Day special event.

County Fairs

County fairs can be a perfect place to promote water resource conservation. This may be done through personal contact, or via unmanned displays, flyers, and other appropriate means. A rule of thumb is to keep the contact short, sweet and catchy, because people are usually passing through rather quickly. Try to take just a minute or two of their time, but remember to make that minute a marvelous one!

See more on planning a County Fair activity.

Earth Day

Planning events or activities for Earth Day might not be as daunting as it seems. Many of the activities conducted water resource professionals such as watershed festivals, canoe floats, tours, trash pick-up, field days, or poster contests can simply be re-titled and fine-tuned to fit the Earth Day theme. Fortunately, there are also a myriad of websites out there that can help to get a program off the ground. Activities can be low maintenance and inexpensive such as a poster contest, or highly charged and more costly as in the case of a full-scale Earth Day event.

See more on planning an Earth Day special event.

Earth Science Week

Earth Science Week is sponsored by the American Geological Institute, and is generally held in October. The goal of the week is to highlight earth science. Specific objectives include giving students new opportunities to discover the earth sciences, to highlight contributions that earth scientists make to society, to publicize the fact that earth science is all around us, to encourage stewardship of the earth, and to develop a way for geoscientists to share knowledge. A packet of information is available from the Institute offering ways to celebrate the week.

See more on planning an Earth Science Week event.

Soil and Water Stewardship Week

Soil and Water Stewardship Week is an excellent time to involve the religious community in water conservation efforts. Schools, community organizations and others might also become involved. Early in the winter a packet of materials about Soil and Water Stewardship Week is sent from the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD). Enclosed in the packet are educational materials, religious materials, graphics, fact sheets, ideas for activities, and other pertinent information. Traditionally, Soil and Water Stewardship Week is observed between the last Sunday in April and the first Sunday in May, although it can be held at anytime. An annual theme is selected each year. Past themes have included Community Waters, the Living Waters, In the Children's Hands and Habitat for Life.

See more on planning a Soil and Water Stewardship Week special event.

Water Festivals

Many natural resource organizations host water festivals for the general public and/or school groups. A water festival is a gathering, large or small, of citizens, young and old, from a specific watershed or county. This type of event is usually free and features displays, hands-on activities, food, informational handouts and community service projects. Typically people move from station to station to learn about watersheds, water quality and water conservation. While hosting this community event, you can make the public aware of your organization's activities and services.

See more on planning a Water Festival.