Be Part of the Solution

By Dick Hurwitz

Have you been paying attention to the lake over the years? Do you look out your window, or from your deck, your dock, or your watercraft and see things that concern you? Are you worried when you see mud-brown water, weeds, or algae? Do you worry even more about the possibility of toxins resulting from algae growth?   If you do worry about these things—about the quality of our lake water, what have you been doing about it: Keeping your worries to yourself? Complaining about it to your friends and neighbors? Standing up at Board meetings and voicing your concerns? Deciding to move elsewhere? Sure, you can do all of these things; but are any of them really helping to solve the problem? Are any of them really actions that may improve the quality of our lake water? Most likely they are not. There are actions you could take, however, which will help with the problems of water quality. Here are some suggestions.

1. Educate yourself by reading the Shores News articles written by Lake Management Committee members and by accessing and reading information on the RomeRock Association website relating to water quality. You can identify the articles by our Love the Lake logo.
2. Follow suggestions in the articles and on the website for: using phosphorous-free lawn care products and lake-friendly cleaning products; constructing a buffer zone or other means to counteract shoreline erosion; planting a rain garden; and picking up after your pet.
3. Do your best to keep your own leaves and yard waste out of the lake.
4. Use the information provided by the Lake Management Committee to contact your state congressmen or congresswomen and lobby them to pass legislation helping to control farmland runoff into our lake’s watershed. To learn more, visit the Sediment and Nutrient Control website under the Lake Management Tab and look for our February 19, 2015 article. http://www.roamingshores.org/RRA1/category/sediment-control-sub-committee/

5. Get involved. Join the Lake Management Sediment and Nutrient Control Sub-Committee. Contact the Association office or visit the RomeRock Association website for meeting times. Or send an email requesting information to IT@roamingshores.org.

6. Encourage your friends and neighbors to follow the first five suggestions!!

Take another look at our lake. Decide right now to start following the above suggestions. Be one of those people in the community who becomes part of the solution to the problems of water quality. Remember to Be Lake Responsible and Love the Lake.