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Summertime in the BelgradesContentsfor Printing Article Summaries |
Lakeside Landscaping and Water QualityBy Art Grindle Take a good look around the next time you are on one our lakes. You will most likely see camps, cottages, houses (sometimes shoulder to shoulder) and lawns — lots and lots of lawns. As you may have heard, this phenomenon is not a good thing for the water quality of your lake. If we want to enjoy lakeside living, we should be conscious of our impacts on lake ecology and try to live a little gentler. Maintaining a riparian, or shoreline buffer can help with this. A riparian vegetative buffer is a wide strip of vegetation adjacent to a water body that serves to protect the shoreline and water quality. The term riparian comes from "river" and refers to things living or located near water. They trap and filter pollutants as they travel across the landscape. They prevent erosion, and they stabilize slopes and the shoreline. When planning to beef up your buffer, first walk the shoreline during a rainstorm to discover paths of runoff. Think about goals for your shoreline and have an experienced person walk the site with you. Your goals should fit within the limitations of your particular site. For instance, consider the height of the buffer plants. Yes, you can have an adequate shoreline buffer and still have your prized view of your lake. Plan your plantings around sun/shade conditions, water conditions and soil conditions or your site. You can also consider using various mulch types, such as wood chips, pine and cedar bark mulch or Erosion Control Mulch among your plantings. Of course there is always the "let it grow" option. This requires very little planning, and even less mowing! In general, a 30-foot buffer is considered adequate to remove most residential land use pollutants. Some people may wonder why a lawn is not considered "shoreline buffer." Simply put, mowed lawns do not slow runoff flow enough to remove pollutants. As the speed of runoff is slowed by a shoreline buffer, sediment, pollutants and organic matter solids settle out and are retained in the buffer. Soils under lawns are more compacted when compared with soils under the natural vegetation of buffers. Less compact soils allow runoff to be soaked up and filtered as it moves down through the soil to become groundwater. Buffers also prevent erosion from occurring in the first place. Eroding shorelines, from wave action and runoff are two very common causes of sedimentation of the lake. By keeping shorelines and adjacent uplands in natural, rooted, undisturbed vegetation, they are better protected from erosion, even in heavy weather. Buffers also act as habitat for many forms of wildlife, providing food, shelter and protected access to the shoreline. Remember, Fall is great time to plant buffers and experts in healthy shoreline buffers are available for site walks and consultation at the Kennebec County Soil & Water Conservation District. Art Grindle works for the Kennebec County Soil & Water Conservation District in Augusta. He can be reached at | ||