Living in Town: How you can help protect local lakes and rivers

The things we do in town can have an impact on our local lakes and rivers. Any contaminants on our properties and roads can easily enter stormwater systems when it rains, or when there are excessive amounts of water from washing the car, watering the lawn or rinsing the driveway.

This runoff goes through a series of pipes or ditches, downhill, and into the nearest water body. There is often no treatment done to this water. This means everything the water picks up goes right into local waterways.

One of the contaminants of concern in our area is phosphorus, which contributes to aquatic plant growth in our lakes and rivers. In urbanized areas, much of the phosphorus comes from our activities in and around the yard, such as:

Fertilizing the lawn
Washing the car with soap that contains phosphates
Sweeping or blowing leaves and grass clippings onto the road
Pet waste
Erosion

It’s not only phosphorus washing into the lake. Any substance on the ground can be found in stormwater runoff. This often includes motor oil, gasoline, asphalt and wood treatment residues, car wax and antifreeze. These toxic substances can damage the aquatic ecosystem and harm fish and other wildlife.

In addition to these substances, soil and other less toxic sediments can pass through the stormwater system, eventually building up in certain areas of the lake. These sediments decrease water depth for boaters, make the water cloudy, and even carry phosphorus that has attached to the particles.

Sediments can be washed into the stormwater system from a pile of sand or sod; grass clippings, leaves and silts that are swept onto the road; construction sites; and street sanding during the winter.

Living in Town: How you can help protect local lakes and rivers

Find out more about what you can do: