Act Now
Citizen Action
Every citizen in the community can take action to protect our waterways, to preserve them for our children and their children:
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Stop using inorganic fertilizers and pesticides on your lawns.
These pollutants wash into our sewers, ditches, and streams. Make a natural lawn a badge of honor!
- Transition lawns to more native trees and shrubs. This reduces mowing and watering and creates habitat for local birds, bees and insects.
- Avoid plastic bags. Plastic ends up in waterways and chokes marine life. Re-useable tote bags save paper and trees.
- Periodically pump out septic tanks. Ensure they are in working order. Seepage from septic tanks adds nitrogen to groundwater. Install a septic denitrifying unit to reduce nitrogen discharge.
- Install buffers of warm season grasses, shrubs, and trees along drainage ditches. These filter nutrient runoff before it reaches the ditches and streams.
- Go green! Consider rain barrels, rain gardens, permeable pavers, and do not flush or dump paint, solvents, medicines or toxins in toilets or ditches.
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