Your Landscape Can Help Keep the Water Clean
Every property on or near the lake contributes to the quality of the water in Smith Mountain Lake. Water, sediment and pollutants from the area eventually wind up in the lake. If you’re reading this, your home or business is probably in the lake watershed and your landscape directly impacts lake water quality.
A watershed is the area of land that drains into a body of water or river, including both surface water and groundwater. Even if your property is not on the waterfront, it drains onto property that is. The image below illustrates a watershed.
While land at the waterfront is the last line of defense for catching sediment and pollutants before they enter the water, all the land in the SML watershed affects water quality. Consider a neighborhood situated on a hill adjacent to the lake. During a rainstorm, the houses at the top of the hill drain down the slope to the houses below. Any loose soil and pollutants are also carried by the surface water runoff.
Watershed as water basin system with mountain river streams outline diagram. Labeled educational scheme with geology structure and infiltration, rainfall, underground groundwater vector illustration.
Buffer Gardens and More Great Ideas for Lake Area Properties
The Smith Mountain Lake Association (SMLA) Buffer Landscape program was created to help everyone with property near the lake access best practices for managing erosion and storm water. SMLA BLAST (Buffer Landscape Advisory Service Team) teams recommend buffer plantings along the contour of the property or lakefront to catch sediment and pollutants before they reach the water property.
Other effective techniques include reducing lawn and paved areas by installing plant beds that help absorb and slow the storm water runoff. Trees, shrubs and perennials have more extensive root systems than turf grass. They hold slopes more effectively, reduce the force of raindrops hitting the ground, and absorb more storm water.
Slowing the flow enables more water to be absorbed into the soil. Correcting any areas subject to erosion reduces the sediment leaving your property and reduces downslope runoff, sedimentation, and pollution.
Yard Chemicals Wind Up in the Lake Too
The chemicals you may use to maintain your vehicles, buildings and property also affect lake water quality. Any of these that hit the ground are picked up by rainwater and eventually make their way into the lake. Use the smallest amount possible, and consider using less toxic alternatives.
Be sure you are fertilizing properly. Plants can only use a specific amount of fertilizer. The excess is washed off with the rain into the lake and the streams and rivers that flow into the lake, where it can contribute to algae blooms. Likewise, herbicides and pesticides used on plants and lawns can indiscriminately harm desirable aquatic animals and vegetation.
Reducing or eliminating the chemicals used, switching to organic products, using compost, and leaving grass clippings on the lawn as natural fertilizer are steps you can take to help protect water quality.
Resources Available From SMLA
SMLA offers information about recommended plants, buffer plantings and other helpful landscape solutions that are specific to the SML area. Our website offers information and practical instructions to help you create a buffer landscape on your waterfront property, a list of native plants and more.
Together, we can keep Smith Mountain Lake clean and safe!
