What is river stewardship? by Tessa O'Halloran, 2024 Cohort

     I am not sure if I have ever thought of an exact definition of river stewardship before. I have

heard this term used before obviously, but to put it in my own words seems to have stumped

me. As I turned to Google however, I found that the Oxford dictionary defines stewardship as,

“the job of supervising or taking care of something, such as an organization or property”. River

stewardship is the direct action of taking care and supervising the river. Now who is a river

steward and portrays river stewardship at its best?

    Someone who I believe represents a perfect example of a river steward would be Phil or Katie,

two individuals who work for the city of Dayton’s water department. Two individuals who gave

the 2024 cohort an awesome tour of the wastewater treatment plant on 2/18/2022. Phil has

been working at the wastewater treatment plant for over forty years. For over forty years Phil

has been making sure that water used by the general population for showers, restroom

activities, and drinking is cleaned and properly put back into the river.They directly look over and

care for the river. They do this through innovation. Innovation is a key part to river stewardship.

Without hard work and innovative inventions (like the systems used in the drinking water and

wastewater plant), our rivers would not be able to sustain themselves.

    Honestly, I do not believe I am at the point where I can use myself as a good example of a river

steward. I still accumulate too much waste. I at times participate in buying from corporations

who do not follow river steward protocol. I recognize these actions as obstacles in my path to

becoming the best river steward. I would define river stewardship as a process and/or a journey.

I believe river stewardship relies heavily on innovation. We can try to understand the

psychology and habits of people and ourselves (post as many hashtags as we want), but

nothing will change without innovation. Innovation allows us to find connections and solve

problems. It has been awesome to learn about river stewardship and ways to reflect on my

actions that affect the river.