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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 17, 2002
Contacts:
Don Ostler, Utah Division of Water Quality Director (801) 536-6081
Jerrold Richins, Calvin K. Sudweeks Award Recipient (435) 336-2204
The Utah Water Quality Board today honored rancher and community leader Jerrold Richins with the 2002 Calvin K. Sudweeks Award for exemplary leadership in improving water quality in Chalk Creek near Coalville, Utah.
By example and leadership, Richins championed water quality improvement of Chalk Creek, which had been listed as an impaired stream because of high erosion and sediment. Richins was instrumental in initiating the Chalk Creek Watershed Project and chaired the Chalk Creek Watershed Steering Committee responsible for planning and implementing water quality improvement practices. The project was sponsored by the Summit Soil Conservation District Board, of which Richins was a member for 12 years and served as chairman.
At the onset of the watershed project in 1991, he willingly stepped forward to not only implement but also demonstrate on his own land techniques for protecting stream banks. Since then, he has implemented and shared with others additional water quality improvement practices, such as managing agricultural waste runoff and sprinkler irrigation. Following his lead, more than 120 neighboring landowners have voluntarily adopted similar practices.
In 1997, Richins established a tour of his ranch to teach others about the watershed and ways to improve and protect water quality in an agricultural setting. To promote the sharing of ideas, he installed a permanent information center on his land. His education efforts have extended beyond his own community to other parts of Utah.
"Not only has Jerrold been a leader, but he has also influenced many others to undertake grassroots projects and practices to improve water quality," said Don Ostler, director of the Utah Division of Water Quality and executive secretary of the Utah Water Quality Board.
"It was a surprise to me to receive this award. I feel honored," Richins said.
The Calvin K. Sudweeks Award began in 1988 and is awarded annually by the Utah Water Quality Board to recognize an individual who has shown outstanding leadership in the water quality field. The award is named for a former state water quality director who was instrumental in leading Utah through dramatic changes in water quality, including the move to treat wastewater.
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