Developed by Dr. Mario A. Villarino,County Extension Agent forAgriculture and Natural ResourcesHopkins County, Texas
Relevance: Water quality and conservation have emerged as predominant issues across Texas as indicated through local input, elected officials/legislative actions, and numerous other indicators. Water for domestic and agricultural use is becoming increasingly limited in Texas. The steady influx of new people presents challenges to continued water availability. The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) projects that by 2060, an estimated population of 46.3 million will reside in Texas and require approximately 22 million-acre feet of water per year. TWDB also projects an annual shortfall of some 7 million-acre feet of water given existing infrastructure.
Response: Programs/activities were designed to educate youth and adults on water conservation and factors contributing to water quality that heighten awareness, increase knowledge and results in adoption of best management practices to protect and conserve water.
- 4 Planning Meetings
- Kids Camp (Water Camp)
- Water Trailer Presentation (Ag in the Classroom Component).
- Basic Vegetable Training
- Homeowner Septic System Training (16 participants)
- Basic Tree Training
- 12 Master Gardener Meetings
- Dairymen Fall Conference (DOPA) (30 participants)
- Native Plants Result Demonstration
Results:
1. 82% (14/17) indicated mostly or completely satisfied with the accuracy of the information.
2. 82% (14/17) agreed to be mostly or completely satisfied with the information being easy to understand.
3. 82% (14/17) indicated mostly or completely satisfied with the helpfulness of the information provided.
4. 82% (14/17) agreed to be mostly or completely satisfied with the relevance of the information provided.
5. 82% (14/17) indicated mostly or completely satisfied with the instructor’s knowledge level of subject matter.
Impact:
a) 58% (10/17) of the attendees indicated to anticipate economic benefit as a direct result of what they learned from trainings offered by Extension.
b) 76% (13/17) would attend another activity offered by Extension.
c) 58% (10/17) indicated to consider the information provided by extension quite or extremely valuable.
Volunteer committees assisted in the planning of educational event. Educational activities include classroom instruction conducted by teachers, volunteers, or the agent. The volunteer committee was involved in the planning of the Water Day/Fair which follows the completion of classroom instruction. The more volunteers are involved in the program, the greater likelihood of success and the opportunity for the program to grow.
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Services in Hopkins County would like to recognize the help of master volunteers (Master Gardeners and Master Wellness) during the implementation of this plan.
A data omission on the results portion of the press release title: year in review 2018 4-H Hopkins County Agricultural Plan submitted 11/27/2018. The values corresponding to answers “I do not know” and questions not answered were omitted from the table making the calculated percentages inaccurate with data as presented.
