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Summer 2004Vol. 16, No. 2

Clean Lakes Program • Office of Water Quality • Indiana Department of Environmental Management

This may be your LAST ISSUE of WaterColumn!Remember to return the post card mailed to you recently or notify us

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Shoreland ManagementIndiana has over 2,500 miles of shoreline along its inland lakes andreservoirs. However, lake shoreland is likely the most endangered landtype in the state. How can this be? We’ll explore the importance of thelake shoreland, threats to this important resource, and ways each of us canbetter use and manage lake shoreland in this issue of WaterColumn.

ImportanceShorelands are important transition zones between water and land.

Sometimes called riparian zones, shorelands line lakes, streams, andwetlands. A key feature of shorelands is the underlying saturated soil thatsupports water-loving plants and trees. Damaged shorelands often cannothold enough water to feed the roots of riparian vegetation.

Most shorelands in Indiana were once heavily wooded, with grassesand wildflowers occupying the ground layer. With human habitation,much of this natural vegetation was removed to make way for homes andother structures.

Prior to human habitation, a natural, undisturbed lakeshore hadevolved to include a high diversity of plants and associated animals(mammals, birds, amphibians, fish, etc.). This high diversity is essential tothe proper functioning of the lake ecosystem. It provides many choices toits residents for places to live and things to eat that are lacking ondeveloped lakeshores. Take a look at Olin Lake in Lagrange Co., the Tri-County Fish & Wildlife Area lakes in Whitley Co., or Pigeon Lake inSteuben Co. These are but a few examples of undeveloped lakes in Indiana

that have diverse, high-functioning shorelandhabitats. Nationally, 80% of the plants andanimals on the Federal Endangered Species Listlive in the shoreland zone. The appeal of living on the lakeshore isprovided largely by the diversity of native plantand animal life that make the lake their home.The constant activity of shoreline wildlife offersa window on nature for people of all ages. On alakeshore, the quiet observer may see a greatblue heron stalking fish, a mink or raccoonexploring nooks and crannies among tree rootsand overhanging banks, a turtle sunning itselfon a log, or a bass searching for breakfast. Forpeople living along relatively undisturbedshorelines, enjoying the native plants andwildlife of a lake with clean water is a dailyreward for good land stewardship.

Great Blue Heron

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Some of the more tangiblebenefits of a naturally vegetatedlakeshore are included in the listfollowing.· Healthy and diverse shoreland

vegetation provides good habitat.· Good habitat improves the

health and diversity of shorelandand upland birds and wildlife.

· Shoreline trees shade the water,improving fish habitat andfishing success.

· Natural shoreline is attractive asseen from the water and theland.

· Natural vegetation screensstructures and makes them lessintrusive.

· Natural vegetation protects thelake bed and shoreline from theerosive forces associated withwaves.

· Native vegetation provides color,texture, and variety.

· Precipitation is slowed andredirected through trees, shrubs,and ground level vegetation onthe shoreland so that only about10% runoff occurs.

· Pollutants (sediments, nutrients,toxins) from the land areprevented from entering thewater by dense, naturalshoreland vegetation.

· Water is filtered before it entersthe ground resulting in cleanerdrinking water.

Shoreland DegradationThe desire to live on the water

has never been higher. Nationally,2.3 million waterfront homes soldin 1974. In 1998, that number hadincreased to 4.7 million. On LakeTippecanoe, it has been reportedthat home prices haveincreased about 7% per year forthe past 20 years.Unfortunately, nearly all ofIndiana’s developableshoreland is already developed.As a result, new lakeshorelandowners are purchasing oneor more “cottages,” tearingthem down, and building “citymansions” on our lakeshores.They also bring city notions oflandscaping to the lakeshore,

including: treeremoval toimprove views,well-fertilizedgrass lawns, andseawalls toreplace naturalshorelinevegetation. Theseactions destroymany of theimportantfunctions of theshoreland marginand, in turn,damage the lakein many subtleand not so subtleways.

TheWisconsinDepartment ofNatural Resourcesand theWisconsin LakesPartnership havemeasured howthe changingnature ofdevelopmentaffects pollutiondelivery to lakes.A 1940s-styledevelopment hasvery little impacton the lake,similar to nodevelopment atall. However, a1990s-stylelakeshore home

Emergent vegetation and 1940s cottages could co-exist

Redeveloped shoreline on Little Chapman Lake. Note the lack ofnatural shoreland vegetation and lack of in-lake habitat.Overfertilization of the grass lawn can introduce unwantednutrients to the lake.

Shoreland buffers and habitat on many Indiana lakes have been replaced by piers, boats,seawalls, and satellite dishes.

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Nuisance Canada geese love nothing better than a lush,grass lawn. Natural vegetation along the shorelinediscourages geese from coming ashore.

substantially increases the amountof runoff, sediments, andphosphorus entering the lake,primarily due to the extensivevegetation removal associated withthis. Without a vegetatedshoreland buffer, these materialsrun directly into the lake.Sediments and phosphorus withthe water that carries them areamong the most damagingpollutants in our lakes.

What Can You Do?Many of the lakeshore

problems discussed above can besolved by creating a buffer zonealong the shoreline. If yourlakeshore property does not have avegetated shoreline buffer (grassdoes not count), plant one.Shoreland buffers may extend from25 to 100 feet or more feet fromthe water’s edge onto the land, andinto the water as deep as aquaticplants will grow.

The lakeshore buffer zoneshould contain native trees, shrubs,wildflowers, grasses, sedges, andemergent and submergent aquaticplants. The buffer zone restoresecological functions and structuralbenefits that are important in thelakeshore environment. Lists ofsuitable plant species are availablein the resources listed at the end ofthis article.

Why spendmost of your freetime at yourlakeshore homeor cottagemowing thegrass, chasinggeese, orcleaning up themess geese leave?A naturalshoreland buffercan give youback yourimportant leisuretime. Nativegrasses don’trequire mowingand thevegetated bufferdiscouragesgeese.

When you goout to a lake tofish, what sitesare the best forfishing: (a) alonga sterile,unvegetatedlakeshore or (b)along a lakeshorewith trees forshade and withaquatic plantsand snags (deadtrees) in thewater? All anglers

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can answer this question correctly.The correct answer is (b) becausefish and other aquatic organismsrequire habitat. You can improvefishing on your lake by providingmore natural habitat.

Do you want a nice view of thelake from your home? There is noneed to cut down all the trees. Anexcellent view of the lake can existin combination with shrubs andcanopy trees. Sightlines can bemaintained between the tree andthe shrub layer through selectedpruning. Remember, yourunobstructed view of the lake isalso an unobstructed view forboaters on the lake. Think how thismight affect your privacy.

SummaryThe shoreland zone is

exceedingly important for

A lakeshore buffer zone may be from 25 to 100 feet wide (source: Henderson et al., 1998).

Sightlines for a view of the lake can be maintainedwith selective pruning. Tree and shrub removal arenot necessary.

maintaining and improving thehealth and water quality of lakes.Living on the lakeshore is awonderful opportunity, but it alsocarries an important obligation.Homeowners must cast aside theirprevious notions of landscapingand land maintenance in order toprevent harming the very qualitiesthat attracted them to the lake inthe first place.

Owning a lakeshore home is atremendous investment. There arenumerous economic studies thatshow how lakeshore home value isclosely linked to water quality. Forexample, decreases in water clarity(Secchi disk transparency) inNortheastern U.S. lakes resulted inhome market value losses of 0.9 to8.5%. It is ironic that homeowneractions on their lakeshoreproperties can actually decrease

their property value. Become a bettersteward of your lake.Plant or maintain avegetated shorelandbuffer. Do it for the fish.Do it for the birds. Do itfor your grandchildren.

Resources1. The following bookshould be required readingfor every lakeshorehomeowner. It is well-written with many helpfulillustrations. This articledrew heavily on this book,which is available for $19.95from the MN Department ofNatural Resources,Minnesota Bookstore:

http://www.comm.media.state.mn.us/bookstore/bookstore.asp.

Henderson, Carrol. L., Carolyn J.Dindorf, and Fred J. Rozumalski.1998. Lakescaping for Wildlife andWater Quality. MinnesotaDepartment of Natural Resources.

2.The Minnesota DNR also has an on-line publication titled, MinnesotaShoreland Management Resource Guide,that is very useful. It is availableonline at: http://www.shorelandmanagement.org/overview/index.html.

3.Your local office of the USDANatural Resources ConservationService has technical manualscontaining plant lists and shorelandbest management practices.

ILMS Offers SmallGrants to LakeAssociations

Earlier this year theIndiana LakesManagement Societybecame the recipient offunds from the IndianaDepartment ofEnvironmentalManagement to

administer a “small grants”program to help protect andenhance Indiana lake quality. Thesize of these grants is much lowerthan “Section 319” or other relatedwater quality improvementprograms but will have the sametype of environmental benefits.

The goal of this small grantsprogram is to provide seed moneyto help start and to enhance effortsof local lake associations and water

}Buffer Zone

Got a question aboutyour lake? Or lakes in general?

Or about somethingyou’ve read? Write to us at theWaterColumn and we will do

our best to answer it.

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quality groups. Funds will be madeavailable for such uses as educationand outreach to local lakecommunities, promoting lakeassociations, reducing boatingimpacts, addressing watershedissues, promoting volunteermonitoring, and other effortsrelated to water qualityimprovements.

Grant recipients are selected bya process similar to that used bythe IDEM Watershed ManagementSection for the 319 program. Fromall applications received, our grantadministrator will immediatelyeliminate those that do not fit theeligibility requirements (dredging,drainage, flood control, permitfees, work required by federalregulations, private lakes withprivate access, etc.). Of theremaining eligible projects, we willcategorize them by project type:volunteer monitoring, education,shoreline preservation, landtreatment, best managementpractice implementation, grouporganization, and “other.” We willtry to fund at least one project ineach category each year.

Highest priority for grants willbe given to those projects whichhave (1) clearly defined goals, (2) areasonable timetable forcompletion, (3) will benefit thelargest number of people, (4) willprovide the largest environmentalbenefit, and (5) are able to providethe largest amount of cost-sharelabor. The administrator wouldthen submit recommendations forfunding to the ILMS Board ofDirectors and to the IDEM grantadministrator, who would approveor modify the recommendations.

Grant proposals may besubmitted any time during thenext two years. Applications andinstructions are available on theILMS Web site atwww.indianalakes.org.

ILMS Develops NewWeb SiteThe Indiana Lakes ManagementSociety (ILMS) has developed a newwebsite to better facilitatecommunication among lakeassociations and citizens interestedin finding information aboutIndiana lakes. The site URL is:http://www.indianalakes.org.

There are clear pathways tofeatures that should be popularwith users. For example, there is anew question and answer section,links to other related sites, anaquatic plant identification guide,and more.

Fish ParasitesRelatively HarmlessSYRACUSE – When Brian Glovercaught a bluegill at Lake Wawaseein early June, he noticed a tiny,crab-like parasite hanging on hisfish. I wasn’t sure what it was,” hesaid. “The bluegill had a red sorespot where the parasite wasattached, so I thought it might be aproblem.” Glover then contactedthe Division of Fish and Wildlife.

“It was a parasitic copepod,”says Brad Fink, DFW fisheriesbiologist who checked it out.“Parasitic copepods are smallcrustaceans that are fairly commonin Indiana lakes,” says Fink. “Theyare also called water lice.”

Water lice are about the size ofyour small fingernail. They attachto fish with tiny suction cups andsmall hooks. They are clear to lightin color, making them difficult tosee on a fish or in the water.

Fink says water lice, like manyother parasites, can stress fish butrarely cause death. “There are avariety of fish parasites in Indiananatural lakes,” he says. “Most arepart of the normal ecology of ourlakes and do not harm individualfish or fish populations.”

Fish parasites vary in size frommicroscopic organisms to large,clearly visible leeches. Some are

found on the external parts of fishattached to fins, gills, or otherbody parts. Other parasites areinternal, found in muscle tissueand organs.

The most common fishparasites include two trematodes:yellow grubs and Neascus. Both aretiny, worm-like organisms andhave similar life cycles.

“Yellow grubs sometimes showup in the meat tissue when a fish isfilleted,” says Fink. “They areusually about a quarter-inch longand look a lot like a maggot.”

“Neascus is usually found onthe outside of a fish and shows upas a tiny black-spot about the sizeof a BB,” he says. “In fact it’s oftencalled black-spot disease, eventhough it’s actually a parasite.”

Are fish with parasites safe toeat? The answer is yes, althoughthey may not appear veryappetizing.

“Very few fish diseases orparasites can be passed tohumans,” says Fink. “The coldfrom freezing and the heat fromcooking will kill them.” (IDNRNews Release)

MEETINGS

November 3-5, 2004. NALMS2004: 24th InternationalSymposium of the NorthAmerican Lake ManagementSociety. Victoria ConferenceCentre – Victoria, BritishColumbia. Contact: NALMS,PO Box 5443, Madison, WI53705-0443; Phone: (608)233-2836; Fax: (608) 233-3186; e-mail:nalms@nalms.org.

December 12-15, 2004. 65thMidwest Fish & WildlifeConference, The WestinHotel, Indianapolis, Indiana.For more information: http://www.in.gov/dnr/midwest2004/wildlife.htm.

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WATER COLUMN

Published quarterlyby the Indiana Clean Lakes Programas a medium for open exchange of

information regarding lake andwatershed management in Indiana

Address all correspondence to:William W. Jones, Editor

SPEA 3471315 E. Tenth Street

Indiana UniversityBloomington, IN 47405-1701

E-mail: joneswi@indiana.eduPhone: (812) 855-4556FAX: (812) 855-7802

Perspectives“I find the great thing in this world is not so much where westand as in what direction we are moving”

– Oliver Holmes, Sr.

WATER COLUMNSchool of Public and Environmental AffairsRoom 3471315 E. Tenth StreetIndiana UniversityBloomington, IN 47405-1701

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