Protect our lake: capture and infiltrate

April 06, 2023| Environment

By: Michela Sales

This post is part three of a three-part series providing homeowners around Lake Hopatcong with tips and information on ways to improve water quality, which is vital to the ecological health of our lake and our ability to enjoy it. The information in this series has been curated from the Lake Hopatcong Lake-Friendly Living Guide and focuses on the following actions: minimizing runoff, eliminating pollutants, and capturing and infiltrating runoff and pollutants before they enter the lake.

Capture and Infiltrate Runoff and Pollutants

Stormwater runoff, or stormwater that does not fully soak into the ground, can pick up and transfer contaminants like fertilizers, trash, and sediment into waterbodies like Lake Hopatcong, negatively impacting water quality. Minimizing stormwater runoff and eliminating pollutants from your property are important steps in protecting water quality, and capturing and infiltrating runoff is equally important. This can be accomplished by planting a shoreline buffer or a rain garden. Both help soak up stormwater while adding beauty to your property.  

Install a Shoreline Buffer

A shoreline or riparian buffer is a section of natural vegetation along the water's edge that works to intercept or slow runoff and filter pollutants and excess nutrients before they can enter the lake. For lake-front homeowners who want to protect water quality with a shoreline buffer, simply plant a mix of native aquatic grasses, sedges, rushes, and other beneficial flowering species that grow at least knee-high along as much of your shoreline as possible. These native plants have deeper, more extensive root systems than grass, which helps them stabilize soil, prevent erosion, slow runoff, and take up excess nutrients before they enter the lake. Native shoreline buffers can also protect biodiversity by providing habitat for local wildlife and pollinators and make your yard less inviting for Canada geese!

Plant a Rain Garden

A rain garden is a vegetated depression that collects rainwater that runs off impervious surfaces, like rooftops, driveways, and patios, and helps decrease the overall amount of stormwater runoff generated from a property. The benefits of incorporating a rain garden on your property include filtering stormwater runoff and alleviating problems with flooding and drainage. For the Native Plant Society of New Jersey’s manual on how to plant a rain garden, click HERE.

Image from the Philadelphia Water Department

Go Native!

Native plants occur naturally in the region in which they evolved and are easier on the environment because they are adapted to the local landscape and generally require less water, less fertilizer, and little maintenance after they are established. They are excellent options for shoreline buffers, rain gardens, and general gardening. To learn more about landscaping with native plants, join us for our spring program on eco-friendly landscape design on Thursday, April 13. Registration is required. 

A large selection of plants, all native to New Jersey, can be purchased during our annual native plant sale. Online ordering for 2023 will be available from April 25 through May 4. Pickup for online purchases, as well as an in-person sale for remaining plants, will take place on Saturday, May 6, from 9 am to noon, at the Lake Hopatcong Foundation Environmental & Cultural Center, 125 Landing Road, Landing.

Taking measures to minimize runoff, eliminate pollution, and capture and infiltrate stormwater are all critically important to protecting and improving the quality and health of our lake – especially when they are done together! Thank you for reading about the ways you can help us foster a vibrant and healthy Lake Hopatcong, right from your home.

Shoreline buffer photo courtesy of Princeton Hydro