A Southern Regional Water Conference to Improve Producer Adoption of Sustainable Water Management Practices

A regional water conference will provide the forum for producers and water resource experts from across the region to gather and train stakeholders and will provide opportunity for direct contacts and collaboration. The regional conference also will facilitate the flow of information from the public and producers to researchers, Extension specialists, NGO personnel and other agency personnel regarding implementation successes and also those policy, research or outreach areas where more work is necessary before water management best practices will be commonly employed. In addition, the conference will provide networking opportunities so that subject matter experts across the region become aware of efforts in other southern region states and which may lead to additional collaborative projects, including on-farm and producer grants. At least one representative from the University of Kentucky (UK) will attend the conference. In addition, the representative will provide a workshop or concurrent session presentation, serve on the conference organizing committee and will assist with evaluation of the conference. As producers are a key component of the target audience, the UK representative also will identify a Kentucky producer who will: 1. Serve on the organizing committee for the conference, and possibly be involved in the development of pre-conference tours/workshops. 2. Provide a presentation, overview, or serve on one of the General Session panels to describe their experiences with sustainable water management practices or impediments to their implementation of more sustainable agricultural practices. 3. Be involved with conference development by assisting with the final design of and completing evaluation materials.