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What You Can Do!
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Have your soil tested.
For information, visit the Purdue Cooperative
Extension Service's Web site or call
your county Extension office (listed
online and in the county government
section of the phone book).
Use phosphorus-free lawn fertilizer!
Your local nursery or landscape supply store
should have phosphorus-free fertilizers in stock.
If not, ask the manager to order it.
Apply fertilizer only when it is
needed, during the right season, and in the proper
amounts.
Avoid getting fertilizer on
driveways, sidewalks and in storm drains. Above
all, fertilize carefully. Don't let your
fertilizer application get into lakes,
streams or ponds.
Use a mulching mower and cut no more
than the top third of the grass.
Keep leaves, grass clippings and
soil out of streets and gutters. Compost leaves
and clippings on site, bag them for collection or
use a community compost program. Registered
organic recycling and composting facilities are
listed online - click
here.
Clean up after your pet. Pet waste
contains phosphorus.
Prevent soil erosion by covering
the ground with vegetation or
mulch. |
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Clean Water
in our lakes, reservoirs
and streams starts at home with basic practices you can
incorporate into your lawn care
program.
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Water
Quality Begins at Home. . . .
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Regardless
of where you live, you are part of a  watershed - a region
where water flows across or under on its way to a lake,
river, stream, reservoir or ocean. Year-round lawn
and yard care practices impact water quality even if you
don't live near a water body.
Thanks
to sound science, we now understand how
phosphorus-containing lawn fertilizers contribute to
poor water quality. Phosphorus, the middle number on the
lawn fertilizer bag, is present in all living things -
including the soil. However, too much phosphorus
disrupts nature's balance. Back to
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There's a Pipeline From Your
Lawn
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l l l To a Water
Body!
Runoff
from the unused phosphorus in lawn fertilizer moves
across lawns, roads and woods into streams and
ditches, and eventually into reservoirs and lakes. The
majority of Indiana
soils  already contain adequate
amounts of phosphorus for a healthy lawn, so most lawns
don’t need the extra food.
Phosphorus is "junk
food" for algae present in a reservoir, lake or stream.
One pound of phosphorus can produce 10,000 pounds of wet
weeds and algae. As you can see from the photo, when
phosphorus is washed into lakes, the algae grows out of
control (known as repeated algae bloom) reducing clarity
and visibility. Some forms of blue-green algae can be
toxic.
Repeated algae blooms create "green"
lakes, which can:
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Cause
fish kills or loss of cold water
habitat;
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Add
a foul taste and smell to the drinking
water;
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Become
a neighborhood nuisance; and
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Produce
poor water quality for fish, wildlife and
humans.
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The Economic Impact . .. . . . . . . .. . . .
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As
watersheds are converted from their natural state to
residential, commercial or industrial uses, the amount
of phosphorus runoff into a lake can increase
five to
10 times.
Green lakes impact a community in several ways. Poor
water quality significantly reduces recreational use of
the water body.
It also reduces property
values.
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Is There a Solution? . . . . .. . . . .. . . . .
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The
solution to phosphorus runoff is to control
the source. Using phosphorus-free lawn fertilizer is one
easy way anyone can contribute to better water quality -
regardless of where you live. When shopping for lawn
fertilizer, look for the three numbers on the lawn
fertilizer bag. The middle number indicates the
phosphorus content of the fertilizer, so look for a
0. The other numbers indicate the amount of
nitrogen (first number) and potassium (third number) in
the fertilizer. Phosphorus is needed only on newly
seeded lawns or where soil testing indicates a
deficiency.
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For More Information
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Indiana Department
of
Environmental Management
Office of Water
Quality
Watershed Planning Branch
(317)
233-8488
(800) 451-6027 (toll-free in
Indiana)
www.IN.gov/idem/water
The goal of the
Watershed Planning Branch of IDEM's Office of
Water Quality is to achieve improvements in
Indiana's surface water quality. The branch uses
several tools to achieve this goal -- total
maximum daily load calculations, watershed
management grants, technical assistance and
education.
 Indiana Association
of Soil and Water Conservation Districts
(317)
692-7325
www.iaswcd.org
The mission of the Indiana
Association of Soil and Water Conservation
Districts (IASWCD) is to represent soil and water
conservation districts as one voice, and to assist
the leadership of local SWCDs through coordination
and education for the wise use and management of
our natural
resources.
To order printed copies of this brochure, contact
the IASWCD via email at terah-dillon@iaswcd.org or call 317.692-7325.
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