A gifted array of regional speakers will make keynote presentations at the ‘Stewarding Our Water Future Conference’ coming up in March.
Theconference will be held March 21 and 22 at the Amarillo Area Foundation’s Harrington Center for Philanthropy, located at 919 South Polk Street in Amarillo.
Speakers will include Dr. Chris Grotegut of Hereford addressing “Recharging the Ogallala and Living Within a Water Budget; Dr. Dave Haukos will speak on “Keystone Ecosystems of the Southern High Plains;” and Professor emerita Shelly Armitagefrom the University of Texas at El Paso, will address “Stewarding Wonder: Our Lives Are Rivers, and Aquifers Too.”
Additionally, Texas NRCS State Wildlife Biologist Manuel De Leon will address “How Our Past, Present, and Future Shapes Conservation;” Chad Wall, founder of Natural Ecosystem Restoration in Lubbock, will offer“Restoring Soil Biology—Let Nature Do the Work;” and Ladona Clayton, who leads the Ogallala Land & Water Conservancy will present “A Community Vision for Preserving the Ogallala Aquifer.
Joining in a conversation on Avenues for Public Awareness and Continuing Education will be regional water figure Janet Guthrie who in 2023 was named general manager of the North Plains Groundwater Conservation District. that encompasses all of Dallam, Hansford, Lipscomb, Ochiltree, and Sherman Counties, as well as parts of Hartley, Hutchinson, and Moore Counties.
Doors will open at the conference on Mar 21 at 8:30 a.m. for registration and exhibit viewing.
Darryl Birkenfeld, Ph.D., Deputy Director, Ogallala Commons, Nazareth, Texas will offer opening comments at 9 a.m.; followed by Claudia Stuart, poet & author, and Mike Fuller, singer-songwriter, both of Amarillo.
Several speakers will fill the day until the bus tours begin at 3 p.m. when attendees will have the option of three bus tours.Tour #1 - Grasslands and Playas at Tierra de Esperanza near Dawn; Tour #2 - Stream Restoration at Wildcat Bluff Nature Center (Amarillo); and Tour # -: Streetscape Water Harvesting (Dr. Habersang residence),City of Amarillo Water Treatment Plant (River Road) and examining the intermittent stream bed on Amarillo Creek (4 miles north of plant). Buses will return to Harrington Center at 5:30 p.m.
On March 22, doors open at 8 a.m. for registration and exhibit viewing, and speakers begin at 8:30 a.m. Lunch will be served at 11:20 a.m.
Early registration is currently underway for the conference, priced at $50 for a single day and $90 for both days. As of February 14, the price of regular registration will increase to $60 for a single day and $100 for both days. To register, visit ogallalacommons. org/conference/ or registrants can make a check payable to Ogallala Commons and mail to: Ogallala Commons, 919 Main Street, Springfield, CO 81073.
Formoreinformation,contact Darryl Birkenfeld (darryl@ogallalacommons.org or 806945-2255.