Impervious Area and Stormwater Management

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Increases in impervious areas, such as driveways and roofs, serves to alter the way water flows in a watershed. Increased impervious areas in a watershed reduce percolation while increasing the speed of the water entering the lake thereby increasing its potential for erosion. This basically translates to increased nutrient transport to the lake and such conditions have caused the decline of numerous waterbodies throughout the region and the country.
Some basic things the community can do to combat these conditions is to limit future development of impervious areas and capture the rainwater that is running off current parcels of impervious areas. This can be done through the implementation of rain barrels which are simply barrels placed at the end of downspouts that collect stormwater before it enters the lake. The collected water can be utilized on-site for watering plants and flowers. Also, the community can install rain gardens. Rain gardens are basically gardens that are strategically placed to intercept stormwater. The vegetation in a rain garden serves to slow the flow of water and in doing so phosphorus and sediments settle out of the stormwater before it enters the lake.
All of the aforementioned measures may seem like relatively minor steps but can, if taken in conjunction, serve to uphold the water quality of the lake and may actually serve to cause noticeable improvements.
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