Minimize & Address Runoff
Runoff picks up pollutants and carries them to the Lake. Minimize the hard surfaces that create runoff.
Eliminate Pollutants
Eliminate pollutants at their source.
Avoid using fertilizer, household toxins, and other chemicals. Prevent soil erosion and failing septic systems.
Capture and Infiltrate
Capture and infiltrate any pollutant-carrying runoff that you didn’t eliminate before it reaches the Lake with shoreline buffers, rain barrels, and rain garden
Best Practices
Reduce Impermeable Surfaces
Limit Lawn Size & Practice Smart Lawn Care
Use Phosphorus-Free Fertilizer
Conserve & Use Water Wisely
Minimize Erosion
Maintain Your Septic System Properly
Don’t Flush Your Drugs
Reduce Household Hazardous Wastes
Install a Vegetative Buffer
Plant a Rain Garde
Install a rain barrel to collect runoff from your roof and use to water
Maintain Your Vehicles - Eliminate or reduce oil run off from boats & wave runners
What Can We Do To Make A Difference
Lake Friendly Lawn Care
Fertilizers, leaves, grass clippings, animal waste, and eroded soil are all sources of phosphorus. When they are swept or washed into the street or nearest storm drain, they end up in a nearby stream or the lake. Follow these tips for smart lawn care with water quality in mind.
- Apply fertilizer at the recommended rate. Fall is the best time. Don’t fertilize before a storm. Never apply to frozen ground. Or better yet, skip the fertilizer all together!
- Yard waste can contribute significant amounts of phosphorus to water ways. Keep soil, leaves, and lawn clippings out of the street, ditches, storm drains, and streams by bagging, composting, or leaving leaves right on the lawn as a natural fertilizer.
- Mow higher! Keep grass length to roughly 3 inches. It is healthier for your lawn and means you can mow less often!
- Pick up pet waste. Pet waste can contain harmful bacteria as well as phosphorus. Flush it in the toilet or place it in the garbage.
When it comes to fertilizing, ZERO is more!
It is best not to use fertilizer at all. However, there is a safer means to fertilize your lawn. When shopping for fertilizer, look for phosphorus-free fertilizer. Phosphorus free fertilizer can be identified by examining three numbers on fertilizer bags that show the N-P-K nutrient analysis. The middle number is the phosphate (phosphorus) content. A “zero” in the middle means it is phosphorus-free
Phosphorus is not our Friend
Phosphorus can have a devastating impact on the water quality of our lake. Therefore, we need to be ever mindful of protecting the lake of it and keeping phosphorous levels as low as possible.
What is Phosphorus? Phosphorus is a natural element and an essential nutrient for plant growth but is found only in small amounts in lakes and streams. Even small increases in phosphorus can lead to negative results such as stimulating algae growth and the unwanted green blooms as well as creating excessive plant growth in the lake. More phosphorus also leads to less fish as dying and decaying algae robs the water of dissolved oxygen fish require to thrive.