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Shoreline buffer one way to help fish, stop phosphorus
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| By: Anita Zimmerman |
August 12, 2009 |
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Don Freeman’s shoreline has gone back to nature, with two major benefits: he and his wife have more privacy, and runoff from his lawn has been reduced by 50 percent, Department of Natural Resources officials estimate.
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Department of Natural Resources officials have a message for lakeshore owners: It's time to dispense with the "city mentality." Golf-course style mowed lawns might look good to some people, says DNR biologist Jim Cahow, but the lack of a shoreline buffer only worsens the green water problem when grass clippings, fertilizer and runoff water feed unfiltered into the lakes.
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As you stare down the stretch of shoreline on Chetek and Prairie lakes, nearly every lawn is mowed to the water's edge.
One local man is trying to change that.
Back in 2000, Don Freeman and wife Doris moved to 414 Lakeview Drive. Their lawn, like those of their neighbors, was mowed to the shore. There was no vegetation, no rocks and no filter between the lawn and the lake.
Freeman knew the lack of shoreline buffer would effectively feed phosphorus and other contaminants straight into the water, so he started growing a 25-foot deep weed patch across the length of his lot.
"We had to get a permit from the city to do this," he says.
Freeman's fellow property owners on Lakeview Drive, as well as his wife, weren't big on the notion. To get the permit, Freeman's neighbors on both sides and across the street had to be consulted. Half of them disdained the plan.
Still, Freeman got permission. First, he stopped mowing the lawn and allowed natural vegetation to grow. Then, he ordered a few shrub-like plants from the Department of Natural Resources, planted a tree here and there and hired guys to bring back rocks from the quarry.
Over time, the shrubs and trees grew, and Freeman began transplanting lilies, geraniums and brown-eyed susans. He added a wood duck habitat, and now, nine years and $600 into the project, the Freemans have their own patch of woods.
"This is what we're trying to get people to do," he says, gesturing toward the obscured shore.
As treasurer of the Chetek Lakes Protection Association, Freeman encourages lakefront property owners to grow, if not a 25-foot forest, then a 5- or 6-foot flower bed or rain garden. At the very least, lawns shouldn't be mowed to the shore, he says.
Not only do shoreline buffers improve the health of the lakes, he adds, but they also add to the natural beauty of the landscape.
"Lots of people like to fish a shore where there's no houses," he says.
City Clerk Carmen Newman says council members can make ordinances more friendly to buffers. Current regulations were written to prevent "hay fields" from growing in unused lots-thereby warding off rodents that might find them attractive-but Newman feels protecting the lakes is the city's first priority.
Once Freeman presents his ideas to the council, adding an exclusion in the ordinance would be easy to do, she says.
It's a timely addition.
Barr Engineering's report on water quality, presented at the annual meeting of the Chetek Lakes Protection Association Aug. 2, showed the chain's phosphorus content at destructive levels, causing earlier greening every year.
Cahow fears the overabundance of aquatic plants, which cause daily pH and oxygen swings, could potentially kill off mass quantities of fish if their growth continues unabated.
At the CLPA meeting, one thing was certain: members wanted to know how they could help improve water quality.
This is the first step, Freeman says.
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©The Chetek Alert 2009
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gary culbert |
Aug, 17 2009 |
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My property in Chetek has been in the family since about 1920. We have never "improved" it but left it as natural woods except for a narrow path to the lake. How might you find it? Look for the families of people fishing, early in the morning, in the evening -- right off our shoreline. All those tourists who come to Chetek to leave their money? They are looking for natural shoreline to do their fishing. Your article speaks of water/lake benefits. I think of economic benefits to the natural shorelines you mention.
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