“Little by little
You have to give it all in all your life”
- Oasis, Little by Little
As I get into my mid and late 40s, I’m thinking ahead to the health and quality of life I want in my 50s-60s. I read that the healthy habits I create now will help. I’m trying to eat more vegetables and lift weights to build muscle. My Instagram algorithm must know I’m interested in healthy choices because I see a lot of advice on my feed.
But there are so many mixed messages when it comes to our health. Take a supplement; don’t take supplements. Do high intensity training; just walk. Don’t eat carbs; some carbs are okay. But there are some common themes that we do know work. Get good sleep, exercise, and limit sugar and processed foods. Each incremental choice seems so small, but it adds up to our long term health.
It’s the same with lakes. There are some mixed messages on what is worth doing or not. But like our health, there are some common themes that we know work. We need to slow rainwater down from running straight into the lake. The more concrete, mowed lawn, and buildings on the lakeshore, the faster the rain runs off into the lake.
The more bad choices we make on eating junk food or sugar, the worse our overall health becomes. Being sedentary also contributes to poorer health as we get older.
Like with human health, runoff and lakeshore alteration is incremental. Damage accumulates over time, little by little. The more each lake lot is developed or modified from its natural state, the more it adds up and cumulatively affects the lake.
Shoreline ordinances may seem annoying if you’re trying to build something. But they are there to minimize all those incremental additions of dirt and runoff to the lake. We all like to think we would make the right choices for the lake if there weren’t rules. Yet even with these rules and ordinances, we often push the limits. We remove bushes and trees to improve the view, even though they are great at slowing runoff. We want our house to be close to the lake because we love looking at it. Nonetheless, being closer is worse for the lake. Also, there’s more risk of property damage if the lake level gets high.
If we truly love our lakes and want them to be beautiful for our grandkids to enjoy, we need to pay attention to all the incremental effects to the lake. In Minnesota, lakes are public waters, so the water belongs to everyone, but the work also belongs to everyone.
We can work to minimize incremental effects on our own lot for starters. A rain garden is a shallow, planted depression in the landscape. It is designed to collect and absorb rainwater runoff from hard surfaces like roofs, driveways, and sidewalks. These gardens are typically filled with native plants that help filter pollutants and reduce flooding. They can be located in an area of the yard where the roof downspouts can run into them. Your local Soil and Water Conservation District can help with design and cost-share funding to implement such a project. An example is shown below.
Like with our own health, there is no silver bullet to protecting or improving lake health. We just need to keep making good incremental choices step by step overtime. I think it’s worth it. Do you?
Moriya Rufer is a water quality professional with 20 years experience working with lakes in northern Minnesota.
To learn more about rain gardens, visit: https://extension.umn.edu/landscape-design/rain-gardens
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