Volume 3, Number 3 |
Fall 1995 |
What can cattails and snow fencing do to help erosion along a man-made lake? The demonstration site at Loch Erin may answer that question. Because Loch Erin is a collection point for head waters of Wolf Creek, and feeds water through the creek into Lake Adrian, erosion along the shores of Loch Erin can affect the water supply for the city of Adrian. Wave action from wind, recreational vehicles, and the flow of water erode soil from the banks of the lake. Soil, from the erosion, and silt build up as the creek empties into the lake. The demonstration project at Loch Erin hopes to show a reduction in erosion after the cattails are planted along the shoreline. As the cattails root into the bottom of the lake, erosion is decreased. The cattails, sheltered by the snow fencing, should provide the needed protection from the forces of erosion the shoreline needs to stabilize.
Along with the Lenawee County Extension Office and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, members of the Loch Erin Property Owners Association have joined in the fight to save their shoreline by helping to plant the cattails, that were dug from an area of the lake currently under development. Property owner involvement in the erosion control project shows the real commitment on the part of the residents toward protecting their natural resource.
Not only do residents of Loch Erin benefit from an improved shoreline, but the downstream residents of the city of Adrian, benefit from their action by enjoying a cleaner Lake Adrian. I would like to give a special thank you to all the Loch Erin residents that helped to make this project happen on a 100 degree Saturday in July. Thank You!
Most farms are measured by the acre and most agriculture producers think in terms of acres when it comes to making management decisions. But agricultural producers who manage their fields, improving trouble spots, in order to improve the overall picture are the most likely to benefit from Site Specific technology. The technology behind Site Specific Management (SSM) may eventually help producers manage their fields with an accuracy that can focus on an area as small as a square inch. SSM is also known as Precision Farming, but the theory and practice are the same. The main goal of this technology is to change field maintenance techniques so that each area of the field receives only what it needs to bring it to maximum production. SSM is usually adopted by the farmer in three or four phases. The first tool is the yield monitor, that allows the producer to accurately measure how many bushels per acre they produce. Grid soil sampling is the next phase and involves measuring nutrient levels, soil texture, organic matter content, and cation exchange capacity, with the goal of pinpointing problem areas and correcting them. The third phase is compiling the data into maps and related information that can be used to make management decisions. The maps are color coded to designate areas of similar yield, soil type, water holding capacity, nutrient levels, and yield. The fourth phase is making fertilizer applications, changing seeding rates, and tillage in certain areas of the fields, it is the actual application of inputs on a site specific basis.
In Lenawee County, Gordon Brighton is working with Michigan State University researcher Dr. Fran Pierce to implement the techniques of SSM on Gordon's farm in Rome Township. Not only will SSM benefit Brighton by better allocating inputs, but the switch in management techniques will help preserve the quality of water in this area. Brighton, with the help of Pierce, has actually used SSM to create yield and nutrient level maps of the Rome Township farm. The maps show phosphorous levels throughout the field, a degree of variability in the weed population as well as other characteristics of the field that have a direct impact on production capacity. The yield maps give Brighton a very real idea of exactly how a field performs in a given area.
"A drop in the bucket." This often-used expression gives many people the excuse to resist change in their normal way of doing things. "Why change?" they say. "My actions mean nothing to relation tot he total actions of everyone around me." This may have been true years ago, but today it's different. With the higher concentration of people now living in our area the total accumulative effect is no longer a drop in the bucket. Homeowners need to recognize those activities that are a risk to the environment and understand the practices that can help to reduce those risks. Many of today's environmental problems are caused by man's activities on the land. If we want to reduce the adverse effect our actions are having, then each of us must do what we can to avoid polluting our environment. Take a minute to think about our water and how it cycles. All the water we have is already here on earth in some form. It is in the atmosphere; in icebergs; in oceans, lakes, and ponds; in plants and animals; and in our soil at various levels. Water falls as rain, which either runs off or soaks into the soil. The water that runs off usually enters some sort of surface storage area such as a lake, pond, river, or ocean where it is subject to evaporation. The water that soaks into the soil becomes ground water. This water is available to our use as a shallow well and feeds our lawns, crops, and trees. All living plants return some of this water back into the atmosphere through transpiration. Some ground water also returns tot he surface by flowing down grade to fill a pond, supply a stream or just bubble as a spring. Certain soils allow ground water to infiltrate deeper into the soil and fill aquifers and deep wells. We are talking about a lot of water in a very delicate, but balanced systems. The old saying "what goes around comes around" certainly described the water cycle. What we do in the surface dramatically affects our water both above and below the surface. As an example, when you fertilize your lawn, some fertilizer may land in the sidewalk or street. It is carried by the next rain past your neighbors' house and joins the fertilizer spilled on their driveways. It then enters a small stream along with fertilizer other developments. The small stream then joins a larger one carrying even more material. That stream enters a river carrying nutrients from our own and other states. As you can see, a small impact can easily be multiplied into a larger impact. In addition, by applying too much fertilizer to your lawn, you may supply more nutrients than your plants can use. This excess of nutrients enters the ground water and follows the flow of the water table. The effluent from a septic system that is improperly designed, located too near a well, or is improperly maintained also follows the ground water flow. Therefore, never dispose of hazardous material through your septic system, and keep your system maintained properly. Disposing of solvents such as gasoline, paint thinner of other hazardous materials on the ground is dangerous and could be a risk to ground water. In total, each of us has had an opportunity to contribute to degrading our water resources. Fortunately, nature has the ability to correct or reduce the effect of some of out activities. But as we grow in numbers of increase out poor practices, we reach a point where the problem cannot be buffered by nature. The purpose of these examples is to stimulate you to think about your activities and the impact they may have on the environment.
Because an increasing percentage of the population is now living in an urban or suburban situation, the Wolf Creek Watershed Project has added the Homeowner Outreach Program to help educate this audience with lawn care, gardening and landscape practices that are aimed at protecting the environment, and especially water quality. The theme for the program, "Together We Can Keep Our Water Clean," conveys the goal of informing homeowners in the Wolf Creek Watershed and throughout Lenawee County that great looking landscapes and healthy gardens are possible without creating any water pollution. Through workshops, informational displays, newsletters, and demonstration projects, the Homeowner Outreach Program will help homeowners with home horticulture practices that will protect the surface and ground water that we all use. Questions? Just call Julie Clemes at the Lenawee County Extension office at 264-5300 for information, or with suggestions you may have in bringing the message of environmentally friendly gardening to homeowners throughout the watershed and Lenawee County. Remember: Together we can keep our water clean.
URL: www.msue.msu.edu/wolfcreek/wc3-3.html