"What we do to our water, what we do to our own wells, may affect our neighbor's wells," said Karen Masterson, of Sustainable Lifestyles.

Globally, nationally and regionally, she said, "We're realizing that the water resource has been mismanaged."

Yet change occurs locally, and the message of this year's Water Forum was that people can do small things to help. It's all about moving in the right direction, said Masterson.

The forum began with a film called "Water and the Human Spirit." More than 90 percent of all fresh water on earth is groundwater, according to the film, and "every human activity has some impact on water." The only way to successfully manage water resources is through watershed planning.

In Sherborn, watershed planning means dealing with the Charles River.

Nigel Pickering of the Charles River Watershed Association spoke at the event. While it wouldn't seem the case, the amount of water in the Charles River is diminishing, he said. While the CRWA has always been concerned with water quality, it's now becoming concerned with quantity.

Mike Davis, from Clean Water Action, spoke about protecting wells, an obvious concern in Sherborn (and Dover).

It's important to test wells once a year for nitrates and bacteria, he said. It's also important to understand your septic system.

A septic system needs to be pumped every three to five years, he said, which is really the only way to keep it working properly. Cleaners and chemicals don't do the trick.

Finally, Nick Novick, a landscaper, talked about ecologically friendly landscaping.

"A lawn is kind of a really unnatural thing in nature," he began. Lawns take a lot of time, money and resources to keep up, yet they're are so much a part of our lives that they're unlikely to go away.

Yet there are alternatives to lawns (such as meadows or bushes and shrubs), and there are more efficient ways to keep a lawn. If done properly, lawn upkeep can cost less money, take less time and be more ecologically friendly. (He talked about a slow-grow grass seed that only needs to be mowed a few times a season.)

While water management is a global and international issue, the purpose of this year's Water Forum was to address small, local things that people can do.

"We started the organization to start educating the people about small steps they can take," said Jack Kutner of Sustainable Lifestyles.

Landscaping in an efficient manner, testing your well and ensuring a healthy septic system are all things homeowners do on their own. And it helps a lot.

For instance, if everyone in town moved away from chemical lawn care, said Kutner, it would make a big difference.

For Sustainable Lifestyles it's the act of actually doing something that matters.

"There's this big disconnect between awareness and action," said Masterson. "People think that by being concerned about an issue" they're helping.

The question people really need to ask, she said, is "What are you doing? Have you transferred that concern to action?"

It's not about perfection, she said; it's impossible to be environmentally perfect. The important thing is to say, "I'm going to start on this path."

People shouldn't feel bad about what they're not doing, said Masterson. Instead, make people "feel good about what they're doing."