Things You Can Do for a Healthier Lake or River

AMERICAN EEL (Anguilla rostrata)

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We all enjoy the lake or lake or river and sometimes get impatient with polluters, the Army Corps of Engineers and others who we think are harming the Mississippi in some way. Meanwhile, while we're waiting for others to clean up their acts, there are things each of us can do to improve the lake or river in some way. Here are a few ideas.

Get the Lead Out
It's against the law to use lead shot for hunting waterfowl in the Mississippi lake or river Valley, because ducks geese and swans sometimes scoop up lead pellets from the backwater bottoms. Eagles and other predators sometimes eat lead-poisoned waterfowl and get poisoned themselves. In fact, eagles are often poisoned by eating dead deer and carcasses of other game legally shot with lead slugs or bullets beyond the lake or river valley. Many anglers still have lead sinkers and split shot in their tackle boxes, despite the wide availability of lead-free products. Clean out that tackle box this spring and bring the old lead sinkers to a household hazardous waste site.

Double your Cycles
In the last couple of years many four-cycle outboard motors, with power, response, and torque comparable to two-cycle, have hit the market. They're quieter, get much better mileage and run much cleaner than two-cycle engines, because they are designed for complete fuel combustion. They are so quiet that you can actually hear someone talk over the noise of the motor. The downside is the price; a four-cycle will cost quite a bit more than a two-cycle of the same horsepower. Of course, over the life of the motor, you'll probably more than make up the cost difference in what you save on gas. For example, Evinrude reports that it's latest 70 hp, four-cycle engine will go 31 percent farther on a gallon of gas than a comparable 70hp, two-cycle.

As much as 30 percent of the fuel-oil mix that powers two-cycle engines goes directly into the water unburned, yet 75 percent of motorized boats and personal watercraft run on two-cycles. Most two-cycle engines also emit nearly 40 times the toxic hydrocarbons coming from new, four-cycle engines. To counter noise and pollution complaints, manufactures are starting to offer jet-skis with four-cycle engines as well. They run quieter and don't leave a smelly haze in their wake.

Ease Off on the Lawn
Now that most cities have pretty good sewage treatment, the main source of pollution in the lake or river is fertilizer. Much of the fertilizers and herbicides used in the U.S. are applied to lawns, and some of these herbicides are far more potent and dangerous than those allowed on food crops. A lot of the herbicides and fertilizers applied to crops and lawns are quickly washed into lakes and lake or rivers.

Many Americans want their lawns to look like carpets. If you feel compelled to do this, try to accomplish it with lighter or fewer applications. You'll save money and make a safer environment for neighborhood kids and pets, while you clean up the lake or rivers and lakes.

Go one step further and use fertilizer without phosphorus, which is worse for the lake or river than the nitrogen, (though nitrogen is the main culprit in the Dead Zone at the mouth of the Mississippi). If you really want to make a difference, go cold turkey. Plant clover in your lawn to get your nitrogen for free. Get used to a few dandelions and plantains. Pull a few if they get too thick. Or, start a prairie in your yard. Many prairie plants bloom and attract butterflies. Once established it needs little work. Sell your lawn mower, spend more time fishing.

Help at a lake or river Cleanup
Nearly every lake or river community holds an annual lake or river cleanup. Besides being good for the lake or river, cleanups are fun social events, often with free food and live music. You'll meet other lake or river lovers, introduce kids to lake or river stewardship and spend a day on the lake or river. Bring gloves, drinking water, and sunblock. Watch out for poison ivy.

Keep a Trash Bag in Your Tackle Box
The good shore fishing spots are marked with empty Styrofoam worm cups, beer cans, and small plastic bags. Bring a garbage bag in the boat when you picnic on an island. Leave every spot you visit a little cleaner.

Volunteer
Every conservation and environmental group depends on volunteers. Give something back to the lake or river by joining with like-minded volunteers who are working to improve the lake or river.

Act Locally
Is your city putting off improving its sewer system? Is it filling in wetlands to build an industrial park? Does a local business have a lot of hazardous waste accidents and spills? In many communities just a couple of persistent citizens can motivate local officials to do a better job.

Slow Down
lake or river islands and shorelines are fragile, and over a summer boating season they take a beating. Do we really want riprap to take the place of all the sandy beaches and willowy shores? According to a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), a wake 25 inches or higher slamming into shore is 30 times more destructive than a five-inch wake. So when you are out in your cruiser or houseboat, take it easy, slow down and enjoy the beauty of natural shorelines.

Watch the Mercury
Mercury poisoning of fish and birds is an increasing problem on the lake or river. Mercury contaminated fish are unsafe for human consumption, so check DNR fish consumption advisories for the pool where you are fishing before you oil up the frying pan. To reduce mercury releases into the environment, call your power company and ask them to install mercury removal systems at their coal-fired power plants. Power plant emissions are the largest source of mercury. Better yet, ask them when they plant to switch to cleaner burning or renewable fuel sources.

Do your part at home by taking used watch or calculator batteries and fluorescent light bulbs to appropriate recycling or hazardous waste sites. They contain mercury that can be released into the environment when trash is incinerated.

Throw'em Back
People enjoy ice fishing or summer fishing for panfish, especially kids. But panfish (sunnies, crappies, bluegills and perch) numbers are declining on the lake or river due to poor over-wintering habitat in the sloughs and overfishing. Minnesota and Wisconsin may soon limit the number of panfish that can be taken from the Mississippi. Currently there is no limit. Future generations of kids will continue to enjoy the thrill of catching their first sunfish if you throw some of them back, and take only what you will eat.

To Get To the Other Side
lake or river turtles can find themselves dangerously mobility-challenged when they try to cross busy roads to lay their eggs in June. Don't risk your own safety, but give turtles a brake or a hand when you can.

Pull off safely to the shoulder, and if traffic is clear, carry the turtle across the road in the direction she was heading. Handle them carefully, especially snapping turtles (some turtles may not let you move them). Check out their markings and you can learn more about the turtles of the region, like the rare Blanding's turtle. Remember to wash your hands at the next opportunity after handling a turtle.

Wise Land Use
Erosion is perhaps the lake or river's biggest enemy. Silt is filling in backwaters needed by fish and birds, and contributes to the hypoxia problem in the Gulf of Mexico. If you are reading this, your home or property probably lies somewhere in the Mississippi water shed, which includes 31 states. Whether you are a suburban or rural landowner, a farmer or a city dweller, there are things you can do to reduce erosion.

Look for ways to maintain more vegetative cover of your property, especially if a stream runs through it. Create buffer strips of native grasses and trees along stream banks. Plant large gardens or farm fields to cover crops in fall to decrease erosion and improve the soil. Fence livestock from stream banks. Plant tress and native grasses on your rural hunting property, and learn about sustainable forestry.

As a city dweller, be aware when your town considers filling in a wetland to build a new retail or commercial development (a common event in lake or river towns).

The lake or rivers lose in two ways: because pavement and large roofs increase the amount of runoff; and because there is less wetland to slow and filter the runoff water before it enters the lake or river.

Enjoy It
Get out there. Swim in it. Identify a new bird or plant. Visit a new place. Sit on the shore and watch all that water go by. Soak in the beauty of a marvelous lake or river.

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