Money And Training Available For Healthy Lawns And Lakeshores
Posted
-
Tippecanoe Watershed Foundation is offering grants of up to $2,500 to homeowners for shoreline and lawn projects that improve water quality, improve shoreline habitat, reduce erosion or reduce runoff. TWF plans to award 25 or more grants through the Healthy Shorelines Initiative in 2011-2012 to eligible projects such as stone refacing of concrete seawalls, lake-friendly landscaping, bio-engineered seawalls, rain gardens and rain barrels. Free shoreline workshops also are being offered. TWF has launched this program in order to improve the health of shorelines and lakes throughout the Upper Tippecanoe River watershed. In 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency released a report on the National Lakes Assessment, which showed that 44 percent of the nation’s lakes are in poor biological condition, with poor lakeshore habitat being the biggest problem. The second biggest stressor was high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen, which cause excessive weed and algae growth when too much enters the lake. Currently, the accepted norm on many lakes is to have a mowed lawn up to the edge of a concrete seawall. Concrete seawalls, however, are not natural; healthy shorelines (and adjacent lawns) have an abundance of native plants both on the land and in the water. The plants work to filter pollutants from runoff, deter nuisance wildlife such as Mute Swans and Canada Geese, stabilize the shoreline, and slow wave action. Lakes with healthy native plant populations spend much less money on invasive weed treatment, have fewer problems with nuisance wildlife and generally have clearer water. Glacial stone (or rock) seawalls are also an improvement over concrete because they provide stabilization to the shoreline while minimizing wave action. Homeowners often worry that a natural shoreline will look messy, but with proper planning a natural shoreline can be a low-maintenance landscape feature without interfering with recreation. The TWF Healthy Shoreline Initiative grants will help homeowners create healthy shorelines in the Upper Tippecanoe River watershed. The application deadline is June 1. All projects must be located within the Upper Tippecanoe River Watershed and the applicant must pay at least 25 percent of the total project cost. For more information about how to apply for a grant, visit www.telwf.org (click on News) or contact Lyn Crighton, executive director, at telwf@kconline.com or 574-834-3242. Example areas eligible for Healthy Shoreline Initiative Funding: Backwater Lake, Barbee Chain of Lakes, Big Lake, Crooked Lake, Goose Lake, Loon Lake, New Lake, Troy Cedar, Old, Ridinger Lake, Shoe Lake, Smalley Lake, Stanton Lake, Tippecanoe Lake, Webster and Town of North Webster. Anyone with an interest in healthy lakes and water quality is invited to attend a free workshop. John Richardson from Cardno JFNew will present information, provide photos, and bring hands-on examples to explain what healthy shorelines are, how they benefit our lakes, what they entail, how much they cost, and how to maintain them. Richardson will discuss glacial stone seawalls, bio-engineered seawalls, lake-friendly landscaping (including shoreline buffers), rain gardens and rain barrels. Dates are: – Saturday, 9 to 11:30 a.m., North Webster Community Center. – Tuesday, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Big Lake Church of God, north of Columbia City on Ind. 109. RSVP to twf-wendi@kconline.com or at the TWF office at 574-834-3242. These workshops are sponsored by the Tippecanoe Watershed Foundation, the Indiana Lakes Management Society and the Upper Tippecanoe River Lakes Association.
