Scout Ahead https://www.scoutahead.org/plans/soil-and-water-conservation-merit-badge

Soil and Water Conservation Merit Badge

Seven requirements, with every lettered part drawn as a step so that the pictures, drawings, contour-map outlines and demonstration stand out, 4(c) drawn after the smaller watershed it contains, and requirement 7 (two of six projects) drawn as a multiple-choice question.

8 steps (30 parts inside them). 6 parts depend on questions you have not answered yet. · Version 1, published 8 October 2026 · About Soil and Water Conservation Merit Badge

No questions answered

This is the whole plan: everything that could apply to anybody. Answering the question at the address above takes out the parts that are not for you.

Which of this applies to you

You have not answered anything yet, so this is the whole plan: everything that could apply to anybody. Answering one question will take out the parts that are not for you.

Answer the questions

The steps

Stage 1 of 8

1 step

1. Soil Requirement

Three parts, all explanations.
3 parts

Stage 2 of 8

1 step

2. Soil erosion Requirement

Four parts, ending with pictures or drawings.
4 parts

Stage 3 of 8

1 step

3. Conservation practices Requirement

Three parts, ending with pictures or drawings.
3 parts

Stage 4 of 8

1 step

4. Watersheds, river basins and aquifers Requirement

Five parts, two of them outlined on a contour map.
5 parts
- 4(a). What a watershed is
- 4(b). Outline the smallest watershed on a contour map
- 4(c). Outline the next larger watershed that contains it Usually comes after 4(b). Outline the smallest watershed on a contour map.
- 4(d). River basins, and why land and water use matters to everyone in one
- 4(e). What an aquifer is, and why it can matter to communities

Stage 5 of 8

1 step

5. Water, soil and the water supply Requirement

Five parts: a drawing, a demonstration and three explanations.
5 parts

Stage 6 of 8

1 step

6. Water pollution and waste treatment Requirement

Four parts, ending with a drawing.
4 parts

Stage 7 of 8

1 step

7. Conservation projects. Do TWO Requirement

The badge states the choice: two of six trips, plantings, studies or projects.
6 parts
- 7(a). Visit two places, then report in more than 500 words Optional May not apply Often forgotten
- 7(b). Plant 100 trees, bushes and/or vines Optional May not apply
- 7(c). Seed an area of at least one-fifth acre Optional May not apply
- 7(d). Study a soil survey report and trace a soil map Optional May not apply
- 7(e). List places with erosion, sedimentation or pollution problems Optional May not apply
- 7(f). Another soil and water conservation project Optional May not apply Often forgotten Your counselor approves the project. Get that approval before you start it.

Stage 8 of 8

1 step

Counselor signs it off Milestone

The completion date is the date you met the requirements, not the date of the signature.

Usually comes after 1. Soil, 2. Soil erosion and 5 others.

Merit badge requirements are republished annually. A Scout beginning work uses the requirements as they stand then; a Scout already working may finish under the ones they started with. Guide to Advancement 7.0.4.3 governs which applies. This page records the date its copy was read. Check it against the official page before relying on it.

This plan is a planning aid: the current Boy Scouts of America publication is always the authority, and the sources used here are listed in full. Each step names its own.