# Find and Fix Local Problems

Part of the Soil and Water Conservation Merit Badge Digital Resource Guide: [Introduction & Overview](https://merit-badge.university/merit-badges/soil-and-water-conservation/guide/index.md)

*7. Local Problem Solving*

> **7e.** Make a list of places in your neighborhood, camps, school ground, or park that have erosion, sedimentation, or pollution problems. Describe how these could be corrected through individual or group action.

This option is one of the most useful in the whole badge because it trains you to see problems that other people walk past every day.

Look for places where soil is moving, sediment is collecting, or pollutants are likely entering runoff. Good examples might include:

- a trail shortcut cutting into a slope
- bare ground near a parking lot or playground
- muddy water entering a storm drain
- litter collecting in a drainage ditch
- an eroding streambank at camp or in a park
- sediment washing from a construction site

### Make your list stronger

For each location, write four things:

1. the place
2. the problem you observed
3. the likely cause
4. one realistic correction through individual or group action

**Think in Practical Fixes** — Your solutions should match the scale of the problem

- [ ] **Bare soil** → mulch, reseeding, planting, or redirecting foot traffic
- [ ] **Concentrated runoff** → water bars, drainage fixes, or slowing flow with vegetation
- [ ] **Sediment entering water** → buffers, cover, silt barriers, or stabilization
- [ ] **Litter or pollution** → cleanup, containers, education, and preventing runoff pathways

> **Tip**
>
> Avoid writing fixes that depend on giant budgets or major construction unless that truly is the only answer. Your counselor will usually be more impressed by a realistic, well-observed solution than by a dramatic but unlikely one.

The final option gives you room to design another approved project if your best conservation idea does not fit the earlier choices exactly.

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- Previous: [Map Soils with a Survey Report](https://merit-badge.university/merit-badges/soil-and-water-conservation/guide/req7d/index.md)
- Next: [Design Your Own Conservation Project](https://merit-badge.university/merit-badges/soil-and-water-conservation/guide/req7f/index.md)