What You Can Do
Simple actions by residents and property owners can have a big cumulative impact on water quality, localized flooding, and erosion. Explore what you can do to help our local waters while beautifying your property, removing ice and snow, or walking your pet.
Simple actions by residents and property owners can have a big cumulative impact on water quality, localized flooding, and erosion. Explore what you can do to help our local waters while beautifying your property, removing ice and snow, or walking your pet.
Seasonal Resources
Pick Up Pet Waste
Your pet’s poop can pollute stormwater. Rain and melting snow flows across yards and trails, collecting in storm drains that lead directly to lakes, streams and wetlands (without being treated!).
Adopt A Storm Drain
Leaves, grass clippings and other residential waste contribute excess nutrients that can harm water quality in local lakes, wetlands and streams.
Fall Yard Care
Fall is a great time to improve the health of your lawn. The key is to avoid excessive fertilizers and chemicals that cause runoff pollution.
Smart Salting for Clean Water
Chloride pollution is a growing problem for Midwestern lakes and streams, particularly in urban watersheds.
Additional Resources
All About Rain Gardens
The purpose of a rain garden is to improve water quality in nearby bodies of water, which are connected to hard surfaces through the underground storm drain system.
Rain Garden Maintenance
Here are some maintenance tips for Spring and early Summer.
Illicit Discharge Detection & Elimination
We all have an essential part to play in keeping our waterways clean.