Originally published in Lake and Home Magazine

By Rebecca Kurowski
Protecting your lake isn’t as intimidating as you may think. You don’t have to invest in expensive filtration systems or huge landscaping efforts to help improve the water quality. The simple act of making conscious decisions about your lifestyle goes a long way. By making some easy, thoughtful and inexpensive adjustments to your everyday living, you can lessen the impact you make on your lake.

Reducing Pollution
Many kinds of pollution come from assorted sources. Moriya Rufer, the coordinator of the Lakes Monitoring Program for RMB Environmental Laboratories in Detroit Lakes, says that nutrients have the most widespread impact on lakes in Minnesota.

“Nutrients come from fertilizers, detergents and soil, and the most common are phosphorus and nitrogen,” Rufer says. Many nutrients enter rivers and lakes through the spring thaw and rain.

Oil and grease from boat motors and automobiles often wash off roads and driveways and cause a lot of harm to the water, as well. Watch for the iridescence of oil in the sunlight, and then clean it immediately. If it’s floating on water, grab some towels or paper bags and start soaking it up. This won’t remove all the oil, but it may reduce the spillage’s effects.

If you have any toxic chemicals at your house, including herbicides, pesticides, paint and solvents, dispose of them properly. Call your local household hazardous waste facility if you’re unsure about how to dispose of them safely. Staff will explain when, where and how to get rid of each type of chemical.

“To prevent these pollutants from running into our lakes and streams,” Rufer says, “be mindful of what you apply on your lawn or leave out in your yard and street and how you dispose of chemicals.” This includes fertilizers, weed killers, and sand and salt on winter sidewalks.

Another pollutant that affects the water is bacteria from feces. Simply placing pet waste in the garbage instead of letting it sit in yards makes an impact on the lake. You also should maintain your septic/sewer system to prevent waste and other contaminants from seeping into the groundwater and surface waters.

University of Minnesota Extension Officer Karen Terry of the Water Resource Management and Policy Extension Regional  Center in Fergus Falls warns homeowners to stay away from septic starters, feeders, cleaners and other additives. “There’s no such thing as a safe and effective septic system additive,” Terry says.

She also notes that while many product labels say they are EPA or USDA approved, it only means that the product contains nothing hazardous. There still is no substitute for proper system maintenance and use.

Also consider how much area you require for a lawn. “Watering can waste valuable groundwater,” explains Kent Lokkesmoe, director of the Waters Division of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. “Lawns are poor at filtering out contaminants in runoff water before it enters the lake.”

Solving Erosion Problems
You can reduce erosion on your lakeshore by rocking the shoreline with a method known as rip rap. Josh Zeithamer, owner of Exterior Designs in Alexandria, recommends installing many yards of boulders and placing them at a three-to-one slope in the water. “Rip rap provides a solid surface for the waves to pound against rather than eat away your valuable shoreline,” says Zeithamer.

He also recommends planting a lakescape, also known as a natural buffer zone, to not only protect your shoreline, but also to beautify it.

“A lakescape is a mass planting of native vegetation along the shoreline that provides a buffer between manicured lawns and the lake,” explains Zeithamer. “Native vegetation protects your shoreline better than lawn grass because native roots are very extensive and deep, which means they can hold on to your soil better. Lakescapes also help protect the water quality because the plants slow and filter surface runoff before it gets to the lake.”

Buffer zones provide an opportunity to restore the balance of nature, as well as enhance the beauty of it. “They also balance your lifestyle with the needs of the natural communities of plants and animals that also call the shoreland home,” explains the DNR’s Lokkesmoe.

“Try to diversify your buffer zones - for both the plant and animal communities,” says Lokkesmoe. “Diversity makes plant communities more interesting and stimulating to humans, as well as more ecologically sound.

“Diverse and balanced species populations are healthier because they are more resistant to disease and other changes in the environment. Shoreland areas provide a unique ecological zone that is required for certain plant and animal species. Maintain as much of the natural landscape as possible to promote a diverse, interesting and healthy environment for plants, animals and yourself.”

A process that in the summer of 2007 has ended with the creation of a new general permit for dock platforms on most Minnesota lakes, and some alterations in docks may be necessary to conform to the new regulations.

            Dock platforms — typically attached to the end of a traditional dock — have proliferated on some lakes in recent years as lakeshore owners came to appreciate the space they provided for water activities and lounging over the lapping waters. The problem, however, was that many of the platforms were wider than 8 feet and thus were in violation of the state’s longstanding dock regulations.         

State officials and some lakeshore residents have raised two major concerns with the platforms in the past: their potential effect on fisheries habitats (by shading a larger area than traditional docks and attracting more recreational activity) and the fact that they extend the platform owner’s “backyard” out over public waters.

Recognizing the sensitivity of the situation and the popularity of the platforms, though, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in 2007 opted to issue a general permit that allowed platforms (that were attached to docks) of up to 170 square feet. The general permit was in effect throughout 2007 as DNR officials held a series of five hearings throughout the state on the issue and created a dock platform advisory group, with the intent of developing a new general dock platform permit in 2008.

The new permit was announced in January 2008 by the DNR and authorizes the installation of a single, temporary platform at the lake end of a dock. The permit “allows those docks and platforms that have minimal impact on public waters,” said Kent Lokkesmoe, director of the Waters Division of the DNR.

Tom Hovey, public waters hydrologist with the DNR, said the major difference between the two general permits is that the method of measuring has been clarified.

Last year’s permit could be interpreted to allow a 170-square-foot platform next to an 8-foot-wide dock, he said. Now the permit specifies that platforms can be 120 square feet or less if measured separately from the dock. The platform can be 170 square feet or less if the measurement includes the dock adjacent to the platform. In both cases, though, the dock can be a maximum of 5 feet wide.

Hovey said 4- and 5-foot docks are considered standard widths and, with the goal of minimizing impacts on lakes, the narrower docks were a “trade-off.”

The permit does lay out a number of conditions for platforms in addition to size, including the stipulation that docks and deck platforms “shall be the minimum size necessary to meet the water related needs of the permitee. Docks generally should not extend to water depths greater than 4 feet.”

Hovey said that one of the conditions spelled out in the permit is the concept of an aquatic impact area, which aims to minimize the impact of platforms to public waters.

“We’re suggesting that  … the extra impact (of a platform) can be minimized … by limiting the amount of frontage that is disturbed,” Hovey said. “The aquatic impact area is an area 50 feet wide or half the lot width, whichever is less. We are suggesting that most disturbances to the lake be confined to this area.”

These disturbances include docks, platforms, boat lifts, canopies, sand blankets and aquatic plant control.

“This is in response to the many comments that we were not paying enough attention to impacts other than docks,” he said, “and that sprawl of equipment across entire frontages was a growing problem.”

The general permit is also designated only for lakes that are classified as General Development or Recreational Development, but not for lakes classified as Natural Environment. Lake designations can be obtained at county land and resource officials or the DNR Web site at mndnr.gov/waters.

The general permit is accessible on the DNR Web site. Go to http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/waters/index.html and click on “General Permit 2008-0401, authorization of dock platforms.” The new permit is valid through Nov. 30, 2012, or when new regulations regarding structures in public waters take effect.

“We listened to people, and we paid attention to the dock platform advisory group’s recommendations and discussions,” Hovey said. “Obviously with the many different views out there, no answer was going to satisfy all groups. This permit is a compromise, and we feel that it can help reduce the impact of the growing number of platforms.”

Lakeshore property owners who have a platform that exceeds the new limits can either reduce the size of the platform or seek an individual permit if they feel it is justified. And remember that there has been no change in the DNR regulation stating that docks (without platforms) that are less than 8 feet in width do not require a state permit.