Although it’s only 10 a.m., the sun’s rays are starting to burn my forehead. Bits of rock, grass and dirt are swirling around me as I lunge my weed wacker into the tall grass. Hacking away at the dense growth, I keep my eyes peeled for long black slugs, seeking shelter in the moist earth. ‘Don’t want to hit one of those,’ I think to myself. Once the wacking is done, I will “tidy” up the beach front. Unaware of the path of destruction I am causing.

It’s ironic that all my hard work is actually dirtying my lake, speeding up runoff, contributing to soil erosion, and destroying fish habitant. This according to B.C.’s Sarah Weaver, co-founder of the Living By Water Project, and co-author of the book, On the Living Edge: Your Handbook for Waterfront Living, “Most times people who convert their shorelines don’t know the impact of what their doing.” Clearly I am one of them. Weaver adds, “I run the risk of damaging the thing that attracted me to it in the first place.”

She explains the shoreline, where water meets land, is where your waterfront property is the most susceptible to erosive forces. Erosion is a natural process causing a gradual wearing away of land surfaces by water, ice and wind. Left unchecked slumping, surface runoff and silt deposits can cause major property and building damage.

It is important for cottagers, like me, to understand the value of the “buffer zone.” By cleaning up my beachfront, i.e. removing rocks, small shrubs, logs and driftwood, I am actually damaging the riparian area, that narrow strip of land located along shoreline. Unbeknownst to me, where land and water meet is a unique and often highly productive ecosystem.

Allowing deep rooted vegetation to remain and planting additional grasses, shrubs and trees that are indigenous to the area, I can help buffer my shoreline from erosion. The Living by Water website states that if a buffer zone is properly maintained it can:

1. remove up to 50 percent or more of fertilizer chemicals and pesticides
2. remove up to 60 percent or more of some bacteria
3. remover up to 75% or more of sediment (soil particles)

Leaving driftwood, rocks and fallen trees in place along the shoreline will help absorb wave activity, and help minimize the impact of the large wakeboard boats, that I have grown so fond of.

This is great news. I now have a legitimate excuse to relax and take it easy at the cottage. As I gaze out from under my hat, good book in one hand, cold glass of lemonade in the other, I can take comfort in the fact that doing absolutely nothing is good for the environment.

Cheers,

Julie

Update on my environmental challenge: we have stopped buying bottled water and now just keep a jug of cold water in the fridge. I am still trying to wean myself off zip lock bags, this is proving to be harder than I thought. I am trying to consume local produce and meat/fish. Now if only they could grow mandarin oranges in the Okanagan.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 3rd, 2007 at 10:45 am and is filed under Décor, Fix It, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.