John Philip Jones Talks Surface & Groundwater Policy in Waller County

As one of the first 4-H Water Ambassadors, John Philip Jones has always looked for opportunities to share his knowledge and experience with others in his community. Recently John Philip tackled perhaps one of the most complex of water issues - surface and groundwater policy. Earlier this month, he presented a PowerPoint on the topic as part of the Lone Star Healthy Stream Program. I asked John Philip to tell us a little bit about his experience, and asked him to share any advice for fellow water ambassadors. Here's what he said ...

"I recently enjoyed presenting to some Waller County residents at the Lone Star Healthy Stream Program. I learned about this opportunity through my county extension agent.  Last year, I asked her to let me know if she saw any opportunity for me to give public outreach.  I was asked to be one of the presenters at Lone Star Healthy Streams and was told I could pick my own topic.  After reviewing what topics the other presenters would be covering that day, I chose to speak about Texas water policy.

When I started creating my presentation, I took into consideration my target audience (their age, knowledge level, and interest in my topic) and my ability to answer questions on what I covered (this is very important to me).  Since my target audience was educated adults who were already interested in water, I made my presentation more technical.  I utilized two primary sources for creating my presentation were: Lloyd Gosselink Law Firm’s presentations on surface water policy and groundwater policy, and Texas Agriculture Law blog articles on “Texas Water: Basics of Groundwater Law” and “Texas Water: Basics of Surface Water Law.”  I also used my notes from the 2017 Leadership Academy.

I received some very positive feedback.  For example, a gentleman who owns a water supply company offered for me to come by his office and see his operation.  I received a challenging question about exportation of water from a GCD, but luckily I knew the answer.

My word of advice to my fellow ambassadors who may prepare a similar presentation is to keep these three things in mind: your target audience and the best way to approach them; create a good PowerPoint, but remember to focus on what you are saying; and don’t forget to prepare for questions (the best way to do this is to do a little more research than is required to build your presentation)."

Good advice John Philip!

Click the link here to download a copy of his PowerPoint presentation Texas Surface & Groundwater Policy.