Adopt a PondGuidelines and tips to find out what is

wrong with your pond and how to fix it.

By: The LEEEKKS, Elise Buzzell, Kathryn Lewis, Ella Carr, Savannah

Carr, Katrina Wicker, and Elaina Blazei

Table of Contents

- Shoreland - Aquatic Plants - Algae/Duckweed - Fish - Sediment - Plant Nutrient Pollution - Why Do We Care - Things You Can Do - How Much Water Do You Use? - Sources

The shore land is defined in more than one way. One definition is land within a certain distance from the shore line. Another definition encompasses 3 components: An upland area starting at the road or end of a lot, the shore line itself, and the shallow near shore area out to about the end of a dock. Homeowners can do multiple things to help clean the shore land, such as picking up garbage and planting native plants to prevent dirt and fertilizer run off.

Shore Land

Aquatic Plants

The 4 major groups of aquatic plants are all very different. Algae has no true roots, stems, or leaves. Algae can be pretty much any size and they are free floating microscopic plants. Emergent plants plants are rooted to the bottom of the water but extend above water and grows in less that 4-5 feet of water. Floating leaf plants float above the water (lily pads). It grows in less than 4-5 feet of water. Submerged plants have stems and leaves that grow entirely underwater but it might have flowers above the water.

They grow near shore in the deepest part of the littoral zone. There are lots of shapes of plants. They may form a low meadow near the bottom of the lake or grow with lots of space between plants or they form mats.

Floating Leaf PlantsEmergent Plants Submerged Plants

Algae/Duckweed Algae is an essential component in the water food web. It is eaten by zooplankton, however algae can become a problem if there is too much of it. Blue Green algae (scientifically known as Cladophora or Hydrodicyton) can become a problem fast. Blue Green algae can harm/kill animals. Humans are rarely severely impacted by toxic algae because it tastes so different in the water. Algae can cause flu-like illnesses. Duckweed is an invasive aquatic plant that chokes out the light from the bottom of the lake. Duckweed floats on top of the water with its roots underneath.

Fish Fish don’t seem to harm the pond. But when fisherman fish, they sometimes litter which can cause problems in the pond. Fisherman sometimes hurt or kill the fish and when they are hurt, fish die and release a poison, that pollutes the pond and can kill other organisms. If there are too many fish in a pond they could use up all of the oxygen and harm the pond. If there are not any fish in the pond, that could mean that the water is not healthy.

Sediment

Sedimentation is related to eutrophication (the process by which ponds turn into swamps and forests). Soil from around the pond runs into the water slowly making it shallower. Humans speed up this process by their actions around the pond. The main things that cause this are soil exposure, land development, construction, and other agricultural activities. You can prevent this by maintaining vegetation (plants) around the body of water.

Plant Nutrient Pollution

Plant nutrient pollution occurs when too many nutrients are added to ponds. This can act like fertilizer, causing way too much growth of algae. The main nutrients that are used in this process are nitrogen and phosphorus. Nutrients can run off land in urban areas where fertilizer is used. Eutrophication is the process by which a pond turns into a swamp. This happens when plant nutrients such as fertilizers and leaf litter get into a pond. They break down, and slowly fill in the pond.

Why Do We Care? Minnesotans get their drinking water from both surface water and groundwater. Though it is treated before we drink it, some types of contamination are still a challenge to get out. Some communities in Southern Minnesota are finding extra nitrates in their water from polluted runoff. This water is bad to drink, especially for young children. In other places, chemicals spilled or dumped at old factory sites have escaped into groundwater at sites around the state. Poor water quality has its most direct impact on aquatic wildlife, particularly fish, bugs and plants. Extra nutrients, sediment, road salt, and other

contaminants can reduce the variety and strength of organisms living in the state’s waters. Many industry’s in Minnesota depend on clean and plentiful water, including agriculture, tourism, food processing facilities, power plants, and pulp and paper mills. People have to pay taxes to help keep the water treatment facilities open. Minnesota shares water with multiple places so when our water is contaminated their water is contaminated too.

Things you can do!

To help you can:Try to avoid:

•Add native non-aquatic plant to your ponds shoreland to catch fertilizers that runoff from your lawn • Pick up litter from around and in the pond to help prevent the increase of algae and other unhelpful aquatic plants • Add more native aquatic plants and animals in your pond to help the biodiversity • Clean up storm drains that run into ponds/lakes to help control the pollution that gets into ponds • Collect your leaves for composting to help prevent the increase of algae and unhelpful aquatic plants • Tell your friends because the first step to solve a problem is to increase awareness

• Rain gutters that flow into the pond or shoreline, because this can put unneeded nutrients into the pond that help algae grow • Adding duckweed or algae to your pond because they are one of the main problems in the first place • Extra activity around your pond that could get unnatural items into your pond. This could also erode the land faster and fill the water with sediment • Paved areas near the pond that could increase runoff into your pond • Adding extra fertilizers to your lawn that could runoff into the water • Extra nutrients such as fertilizers and leaf litter getting into the water and causing algae blooms

To clean up your pond you need some knowledge, a little hard work and the motivation to do it. How soon your pond gets cleaned depends partly on the volunteers commitment. You really only need to do cleanups once or twice a month. The biggest part of fixing your pond is learning about the problem because without knowledge you won’t know what to do.

Most people don’t realize how water they use each day.

These are the average usage amounts: -Bath - 36 gallons -Shower - 3.5 gallons per minute -Brushing Teeth - 1.5 gallons per minute -Washing Hands/Face - .75 gallons -Dishwasher - 10 gallons -Dishwashing by Hand - 8 gallons -Clothes Washer - 25 gallons -Toilet Flushing - 2 gallons -Drinking/Cooking - varies by individual

Science has proven that humans only need about 13 gallons of water a day but people in America use about 100 gallons every day.

I use ______________________ gallons of water a day. I use ______________________ gallons of water a week. I use ______________________ gallons of water a month. I use ______________________ gallons of water a year. To save water I can _________________________ _________________________

Every drop matters

-Mr. Doud -Dr. Roble -Ms. Havir -https://www.rex-bac-t.com/c-102-pond-duckweed-control.aspx -https://www.extension.umn.edu/environment/water/property-owners/shoreland-maintenance/stabilizing-your-shoreland-landscapes-and-construction%20activities/index.html -http://www.shorelandmanagement.org/quick/tsb.html -https://www.co.itasca.mn.us/567/Shoreland-Alterations -http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/plants/lakes/problems.html -https://www.chijournal.org/Journals/PDF/R200-21 -http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/shorelandmgmt/apg/wheregrow.html -http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/plants/lakes/problems.html -https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/publication/26eec042-b1ff-42e9-83fe-810e5bf48c22 -https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17735850 - http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/shorelandmgmt/apg/permits.html -http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/fish_wildlife/fisheries/apm/apm-staff-locations.pdf -http://wspmn.gov/Directory.aspx?did=8 -http://wspmn.gov/415/Storm-Water-Utility -https://www.crcpress.com/Lake-and-Pond-Management-Guidebook/McComas/p/book/9781566706308 -https://www.amazon.com/Lake-Management-Guidebook-Steve-McComas/dp/1566706300 -http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=444859 -Lake and Pond Management Guidebook -http://www.dunnsfishfarm.com/algae_solutions.htm -https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/nutpollution.html

Sources

The LEEEKKS