GLIN==> How to Improve Streamside Properties, Water Quality

Alliance for the Great Lakes - Lake County Stormwater Management Commission

For Immediate Release                                   Contact: Angela Larsen, 312-939-0838 x233
Monday, Sept. 13, 2010                                                         alarsen at greatlakes.org

  
Learn How to Improve Streamside Properties, Water Quality

Anyone interested in improving water quality in Lake Michigan is invited to learn about cost-effective, environmentally sound streamside conservation practices at a free workshop Sept. 18 in Winthrop Harbor, Ill.

The workshop, sponsored by the Alliance for the Great Lakes, the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission and the Village of Winthrop Harbor, is scheduled for 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and is part of "It's Our River Day" activities taking place across Illinois.

The workshop will feature cost-effective, practical and environmentally sound practices for streamside landowners -- including homeowners, businesses, churches, schools, park districts and others.  

The careful management of riparian areas, as they are known, is important because it can reduce damage to property caused by erosion, reduce pollution in streams, and help protect plants, animals and natural areas. 

As waterways often have many different landowners along their banks, the actions of each property owner are important to a stream's overall quality. The workshop will provide riparian landowners with a basic understanding of various maintenance and landscape activities they can use in the course of regular maintenance to reduce erosion, manage native and invasive plants, create a healthy riparian buffer and stream corridor, and reduce runoff and pollution.  

The workshop is supported by grants from the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Land management consultant V3 will provide information on the basics of maintaining land and vegetation along a stream, including where and why streambank erosion occurs, landowner rights and responsibilities, and how different types of landscape maintenance can affect the stream corridor.  

An outdoor, hands-on demonstration will follow at Winthrop Harbor's Fossland Park, located at the southwest corner of Sheridan Road and 4th Street. V3 will show how to install and maintain a healthy vegetated riparian buffer, give a "crash-course" in identifying common native and invasive plants, and highlight types of debris that should be removed from streams. The workshop will also include information about how property owners can curb runoff from their property -- including disconnecting downspouts, installing rain barrels and creating rain gardens.

Participants should prepare for outdoor activities and provide their own transportation between the indoor and outdoor workshop locations, which are about 1.25 miles apart. Doors open at 8:30 a.m. at the Schlader Recreation Center, located at 2700 9th St. 

For more information, see the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission website at https://mail.greatlakes.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.lakecountyil.gov/stormwater. Space is limited, so anyone interested in attending should pre-register with the Alliance by contacting Angela Larsen at alarsen at greatlakes.org or 312-939-0838 ext. 233. To learn more about the Alliance, see https://mail.greatlakes.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.greatlakes.org/.



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Formed in 1970, the Alliance for the Great Lakes (formerly the Lake Michigan Federation) is the oldest independent citizens' organization in North America. Its mission is to conserve and restore the world's largest freshwater resource using policy, education and local efforts, ensuring a healthy Great Lakes and clean water for generations of people and wildlife. More about the Alliance for the Great Lakes is online at https://mail.greatlakes.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.greatlakes.org/. 

 

Susan Campbell
Communications Manager
Alliance for the Great Lakes
414-540-0699
Visit http://www.greatlakes.org
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