“That it does,” Pops said. “I didn’t have anything to do with choosing it, but I’m glad your folks will be among those to benefit. The reservoir should cut down on flooding from spring runoff and make for more reliable irrigation, too.”

“What worries me,” Nate said, “is whether that reservoir will leave any water coming down the creek for us to draw on.”

“You needn’t fret,” Pops said. “The reservoir’s not going to be all that deep, and once it’s filled, then water will go over the spillway right into the creek bed and on through your place, same as always.”

“Do you think our project might really help your folks?” I asked Nate, on our way to lunch.

“I suppose. But if I know my dad, it’s going to have to be working before he’ll admit it might. And it’s not like he’ll be able to ignore the reservoir meanwhile, since he’ll see the construction every time he goes outside.”

Then Nate grinned. “But I can tell you this. Maggie’s going to be all for it.”

Mr. Caldwell, an engineer with the Soil Conservation Service, spoke to us in the afternoon. He said he’d be our project superintendent—not working with us every day, but taking overall responsibility for what we did.

“As soon as the ground thaws we’ll begin digging,” he told us. “But first I’ve got another task I’d like you to tackle.

“The way I see it, one of the toughest jobs in front of us will be getting folks to understand what we’re doing and why. Otherwise, we won’t get people to try our ideas on their own places.

“I’ve got pamphlets that explain it all, but it’s been my experience that until a person sees a thing, he’s not likely to grasp it fully. So I want you to build some models that will show both the reservoir we’re going to put in and also a variety of conservation practices.”

“What will we make the models out of?” someone asked.

“Whatever you want. How you do it is up to you. I’ll just show you the things I’d like included.”

“How big?” another asked.

“Your call, too,” Mr. Caldwell said. “But make them big enough that details like irrigation gates can be shown. And big enough to hold a discussion around.”

For the reservoir, we covered a couple of broad planks with chicken wire shaped to show the basin and how the land would be once we got done moving earth around. Then we covered that with pulped newspapers—papier-mâché, Sam called it—that we painted blue for water and buff for dirt.

And then we got to work on details.