LakeSmart

The Problem

It’s hard to believe that just one person’s expansive lawn, eroding camp road, or unstable pathway could be a threat to something as large and enduring as a lake. But when added to a shoreline full of similar sites, the collective impact can be a big one. All stormwater that gets into a lake carries sediment and phosphorus (algae food!). Over time, this impact can add up to thousands of pounds of pollutants in the lake. The result, “death by a thousand cuts” from many small areas of erosion scattered throughout a watershed. Uncontrolled, this can lead to algae blooms, fish kills, and the loss of water quality and spawning habitat.

If every homeowner does a little, the sum of many small actions adds up to a lot of lake protection, and being LakeSmart is the place to start!

What you can do now – Become LakeSmart!

LakeSmart is an education and reward program that helps lakefront homeowners manage landscapes in ways that protect water quality. The program is free, non-regulatory, and voluntary. Trained volunteers perform property assessments for participating homeowners. Homeowners receive individualized suggestions for keeping pollutants out of lake, to make your property more lake-friendly. Sites that score well earn the coveted LakeSmart Award, consisting of two distinctive signs that can be posted at the waterfront and driveway. The signs identify the homes of good stewards and illustrate what lake-friendly living looks like.

To be “LakeSmart” means that the homeowners are using natural landscaping strategies to protect their lake. LakeSmart landscaping mimics nature’s rich mosaic of plants, shrubs, winding paths, and shady trees – so it looks great, enhances privacy, and protects property values, wildlife habitat, water quality, and the vitality our local economy.

30 Mile partners with Maine Lakes as a regional LakeSmart “HUB” support center, helping our lake associations deliver LakeSmart education, property-by-property and shore-by-shore to create a conservation ethic across the lake community.