Mission
Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District’ s mission is to promote responsible land use decisions for the conservation, protection and improvement of soil and water resources by providing information and assistance through effective partnering, technical guidance and education.
What We Do:
Click Here to see a document that lists all of our services
What is an SWCD?
Soil and water conservation districts are subdivisions of the state, organized under ORC 940, and conterminous with county boundaries. In Ohio, there are 88 soil and water conservation districts. Districts are overseen by five-member, publicly elected Boards of Supervisors. Franklin Soil and Water receives non-mandated funding from the Franklin County Board of Commissioners, local municipalities and from the state as match funding. Soil and Water Districts were created by Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Administration in response to The Dust Bowl. While his advisors recommended he create a federal oversight committee in response to the crisis, FDR realized that farmers wanted to do the right thing and keep their land healthy and productive, in most cases they just didn't have the resources to be able to do it! He created SWCDs to be a local, on the ground resource, that worked with farmers to conserve the land. While the numer of farms in Franklin County has decreased, our guiding principles have remained the same since we were established in 1945. We believe citizens want healthy water and soil, and we're here to give them the resources and knowledge to make it happen! The video below explains how SWCDs
nationwide are making a difference.