The authors were all raised on farms with somewhat different experiences that motivated them to pursue engineering careers in soil and water conservation. They have had broad and varied experiences in many U.S. states and countries of the world. During these experiences they have seen famine, drougth, dust storms, soil erosion, floods, fields too wet to farm, rising water tables and salinization of soils with salt crust on the soil surface, seepage from irrigation canals, inefficient irrigation, and many other soil and water management problems. The authors were also influenced to enter this field because of the many problems they observed during their early childhood.