What is conservation? Conservation is the intentional management and protection of natural resources. Ultimately, conservation seeks to balance human, cattle, poultry, land, soil, and water needs. If your streambank is eroding, you may have a clear idea of what conservation could mean to you. If you mange cattle, conservation may look like managing water a little differently, usually to the benefit of all listed above, and we have some ways to help.

Much like lungs require space to expand within the chest cavity, rivers need adequate room along their banks and tributaries to accommodate fluctuations during volatile rain events. By maintaining a minimum 100-foot riparian buffer—essentially the vegetated areas alongside the creek or river—avoiding the filling in of wetlands, and minimizing development and disturbance in the floodplain, we can effectively protect our rivers from erosion while safeguarding homes and infrastructure from flooding.

A watershed is an area of land where all the water that falls as rain or snow drains into a common body of water, such as a river, lake, or ocean. It includes all the streams and rivers that flow into that body of water, along with the land surfaces that contribute to this drainage. Each watershed is defined by a boundary, often created by hills or mountains that direct the flow of water. As you can imagine, water does not flow along with our jurisdictional lines, so this is way to manage natural resources. If you are reading this, you may live or work in the Illinois River Watershed, but no matter where you are, you are in a watershed!

While beneficial algae play a vital role in aquatic ecosystems, serving as a food source for various organisms and contributing to oxygen production, the overabundance of nutrients can trigger large algal blooms. These blooms, sometimes dominated by toxic species, can lead to oxygen depletion in the water and produce toxins harmful to aquatic life and humans. Properly disposing of your lawn debris— leaving it on the ground to decompose away from where it would wash into a storm drain or waterway— is best practice.

You may not think that your lawn has much of an impact on the world beyond your block, but it does! We have been trained over generations to appreciate lawns and open space as that are uniform with grass freshly cut short and free of ruffage. Let‘s rethink our vision of a perfect lawn. Read more here: https://www.irwp.org/stories/the-perfect-lawn

What we do in the headwaters, or upstream, affects what happens downstream. Consider invasive Chinese Privet. When the berries are washed into creeks in the headwaters, they contribute to the proliferation of that invasive species downstream. Learn more about invasive plants here: https://www.irwp.org/invasivespecies

In our watershed, we lose annually 20 acres of land to erosion. They call it “death by 1000 cuts” for a reason. Protect banks from erosion, leave vegetation for 100 feet along streamsides. Learn more at irwp.org/sbe

Part of the beauty of this watershed and region is the abundance of surface water we have! For your next outing, explore a stream near your home. Learn it’s name and where it flows to. Sams River Runner is a great tool to watch water flow!

The biggest impact we can have on the future of the watershed is with our youth. Get lessons on our Online Learning Center or book a field trip with our Youth Education Specialist at www.irwp.org/youtheducation.