Things You Can Do to Make a Difference

Learn about your watershed.

Start by using the Watershed Region Information Web site to find your watershed address and learn about its environmental health. Other useful sites include Surf Your Watershed and Envirofacts. Also be sure to check out EPA's Wetlands web page to learn about the importance of wetlands.

Identify ways you can help prevent polluted runoff from your home, ranch or farm. Water that runs off your yard and driveway eventually makes its way to the lake - often faster that you think! Along with adding to lake level increases, that water carries sediment, nutrients, and other harmful chemicals into the lake. Any time you keep water where it falls, you prevent problems downstream. Simple actions such as directing downspouts to grassy areas, aerating your lawn, using rain barrels or planting a rain garden in a low area all add up to big improvements for our lakes and streams.   EPA's Nonpoint Source Program Web site and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service Web site to find out how you can be part of the solution, instead of part of the problem.

 Find out about our precious Lake and steps you can take to protect marine resources by reading the http://www.epa.gov/owow/lakes/onlndocs.html .

Become involved in land use and development decisions that affect your water resources.   Research the issues that are facing your local water resources, whether nutrient loading, invasive aquatic plants, sediment buildup, or volume problems. Learn what you can do at your home or business to protect water quality, identify specific BMPs that will work at your site and commit to implementing them. Discuss your decisions with your neighbors, family and friends and encourage them to join you in your efforts,  you don't have to live on the lake to make a difference!    Find out ways you can manager your land and water  http://www.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/pondmgmtguide.pdf. Learn about alternatives to current development patterns such as low-impact development and smart growth.

Create a Wildlife Habitat in your Backyard, Workplace or Schoolyard. Certify your backyard or schoolyard as part of the National Wildlife Federation's Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program or Schoolyard Habitat Program.

Protect Shorelines, Waterways and Wetlands

Leave a natural (or at least an unfertilized) buffer of 15 to 25 feet along lakes, streams and wetlands. This will reduce and filter runoff, deter geese, and keep chemical use away from the water. Many new developments have designated buffer areas around wetlands and watercourses - look for signs marking the buffer boundary and refrain from mowing, fertilizing, or dumping (lawn clippings, pet waste, etc.) in the buffer.

You may also be eligible for the District's filter strip and wetland protection program. Many watershed residents can receive incentive payments for establishing filter strips along ditches and streams. The District is also looking for opportunities to restore degraded wetlands and enhancing existing ones, and also to purchase easements over wetland areas.

Visit EPA’s wetlands web site for ideas for special wetland activities. Also, celebrate International Migratory Bird Day by joining in an event to raise awareness about the importance of birds, biological diversity, and wetlands.

Do your part to protect drinking water sources. Individuals, citizen groups, and local communities can participate in many activities that help to protect their drinking water sources. Get information about drinking water and how it can be protected at the EPA Source Water Protection Web site. Find out more about how your drinking water is tested, treated and protected by reading your utility's yearly water quality report. Check out the National Source Water Collaborative – a coalition of 19 national organizations with a shared recognition of the importance of protecting drinking water sources.

Prepare a presentation about your watershed for a school or civic organization. Explain what a watershed is. Discuss water quality threats, including polluted runoff and habitat loss. Highlight things people can do to protect water quality, including limiting fertilizer use and eliminating herbicides and pesticides. Be sure to provide case studies from other watersheds and to highlight success stories. Research your presentation using a variety of water education materials.

Practice Lake-Friendly Lawn Care                             

 Our lawn care practices can have a big impact on the health of our lakes and streams. Using too much fertilizer can send excess nutrients into lakes and streams (especially phosphorus, which causes algae blooms). Grass clippings and leaves left on sidewalks and streets make their way to our lakes via storm sewers, where they break down into algae-promoting nutrients. Here are some steps you can take in your yard to help protect and improve our lakes:

• Mulch or compost grass clippings and leaves - keep them out of the streets, and out of our lakes!
• Use zero-phosphorus lawn fertilizer, and keep fertilizer off sidewalks, streets, and shorelines
• Maintain a healthy lawn - mow grass to a height of  no less than 3 inches, seed in the spring and fall, and aerate and de-thatch in the fall
• If you fertilize once a year, do so in the fall. Remember that if you mulch your grass, over the course of the summer it adds up to the equivalent of one fertilizer application
• Use native plants in landscaping and along shorelines and remove invasive, non-native plants

Properly Dispose of Household Hazardous Waste
Motor oil, gasoline, leftover paint and pesticides are all common household products that can create big problems if they reach our lakes, streams, and wetlands. Fortunately, Scott County has a program for properly disposing of these and other household hazardous wastes.  And remember, NEVER dispose of these materials in storm drains, which do not lead to a treatment plant, but rather are connected to our lakes, streams and wetlands.    For more information go to :  http://www.epa.state.il.us/land/hazardous-waste/household-haz-waste/hhw-disposal.html