During
any yard cleanup, people should remember
not to dump their yard waste into any waterway
or wetland. The dumping applies to any river
or wetland and can have very bad consequences.
Whether
it's in the spring when homeowners, renters,
and professional yardmen are hastening to
rake up last fall's leaves and cut back
deadwood to encourage the new growth that
has started to push through the earth or
it's during the great fall cleanup, any
time is a good time to remember that none
of those raked leaves and collected clippings
should find their way into any waterway
or wetland. And property owners should let
anyone who works with them or for them know
that this material should not be blown or
dumped into any river, pond, or wetland.
No matter which waterway or wetland is a
dumping target, dumping in those sensitive
areas can have serious consequences.
1.
Excess leaves can clog culverts, fill ponds
or the backside of a dam, and make the river
shallower and more prone to flooding or
the need for expensive dredging.
2.
Shallower waterways and ponds make the water
warmer, thereby discouraging fish and encouraging
unsightly algal blooms.
3.
Excess leaves can produce organic loading
and create an organic imbalance. As insects
work to process the material, they expel
nutrients that overenrich downstream ponds
and Long Island Sound, cause algal blooms,
and deplete oxygen - sometimes causing fish
kills.
4. Repeated dumping into a watercourse or
wetland over a period of time without a
permit is considered filling and can incur
a fine from the local Inland Wetland Board.
5.
Besides increasing environmental problems,
dumping leaves - instead of composting them
or broadcasting them into woodlands to decompose
naturally - eliminates a source of rich
soil beneficial to gardens and healthy landscapes.
Some
leaves will fall naturally, of course, into
rivers and wetlands, but it's important
not to concentrate the accumulation, overload
the systems, or create an imbalance. Proper
disposal of leaves - by composting or broadcasting
into woodlands - is one easy way for each
person to make a difference to our important
waterways and wetlands. For more information,
people may contact their local Conservation
Commission, Inland Wetlands Board, or NRWA
at info@norwalkriver.org.
More:
Improve
your soil by raking less (PDF)