Soil and Water Conservation Merit Badge
Seven requirements. Six are explanations with things to make among them: pictures or drawings of erosion and erosion control, two watersheds outlined on a contour map, drawings of the hydrologic cycle and of waste treatment, and a demonstration of water in soil. Requirement 7 is any two of six projects: a trip and report, planting 100 trees, bushes or vines, seeding a fifth of an acre, a soil survey, a list of problem places, or a project your counselor approves.
Elective Merit Badges Conservation Merit Badges Requirements STEM
The plan behind this
Things to make among the explanations
| part | what you make or show |
|---|---|
| 2(d) | pictures or drawings of two kinds of soil erosion |
| 3(c) | pictures or drawings of three kinds of erosion-control practices |
| 4(b) | the smallest watershed you can find on a contour map, outlined |
| 4(c) | the next larger watershed that also has the smallest one in it, outlined as far as the map will allow |
| 5(a) | a drawing of the hydrologic cycle |
| 5(b) | a demonstration of at least two actions of water in relation to soil: percolation, capillary action, precipitation, evaporation and transpiration |
| 6(d) | a drawing showing the principles of complete waste treatment |
Requirement 7: do TWO of six
| route | what it asks |
|---|---|
| 7(a) | a trip to TWO of the places below, then a report of more than 500 words about the soil and water and energy conservation practices you saw |
| 7(b) | plant 100 trees, bushes, and/or vines for a good purpose |
| 7(c) | seed an area of at least one-fifth acre for some worthwhile conservation purposes, using suitable grasses or legumes alone or in a mixture |
| 7(d) | study a soil survey report and describe what is in it; trace a soil map and outline an area with three or more different kinds of soil, listing each by full name and map symbol |
| 7(e) | list places in your neighborhood, camps, school ground, or park that have erosion, sedimentation, or pollution problems, and describe how they could be corrected through individual or group action |
| 7(f) | any other soil and water conservation project approved by your counselor |
The places for 7(a): (1) an agricultural experiment; (2) a managed forest or woodlot, range, or pasture; (3) a wildlife refuge or a fish or game management area; (4) a conservation-managed farm or ranch; (5) a managed watershed; (6) a waste-treatment plant; (7) a public drinking water treatment plant; (8) an industry water use installation; (9) a desalinization plant.
The explanations
Requirement 1 is soil: what it is and how it forms, three kinds, and the three main plant nutrients. Requirement 2 is soil erosion, 3 conservation practices, 4 watersheds, river basins and aquifers, 5 the water cycle and what affects the usable water supply, and 6 water pollution and waste treatment.
What this page is
The Soil and Water Conservation merit badge, drawn so the pictures, drawings, map work and demonstration stand out among the explanations, with requirement 7 (two of six projects) drawn as a question and 4(c) drawn after the watershed it contains. It is not a copy of the requirements: each step is a short label with a link to the official requirements, which are what actually governs and which change from year to year. The free official pamphlet is the fuller guide.
Sources for this page
- Soil and Water Conservation Merit Badge Requirements, Merit Badge Hub, last modified 2025-09-19 · The requirements themselves, and the free official pamphlet linked from them.
- Guide to Advancement, 2025, Section 7.0.0.3 · The process every merit badge is earned through, which this page does not repeat.
- Guide to Advancement, 2025, Section 7.0.4.3 · Which version of a changed requirement applies to a Scout who has already started.
- Guide to Advancement, 2025, Section 4.0.0.1 · Why the requirements are not in the Guide to Advancement and are expected to change annually.
Last checked against its sources on .