Urban Conservation
Even the most urban landscape can be turned into a sanctuary for wildlife and help improve and protect our natural resources. Simple plantings of native shrubs, wildflowers and grasses can attract birds and butterflies and other animals, providing food and cover. In addition to bringing nature to your doorstep, many Urban Conservation practices can help improve the quality of our lakes and streams by reducing stormwater runoff. Urbanization has greatly increased the amount of impervious surfaces creating an overload of stormwater runoff in our watersheds. Large quantities of water, which previously were allowed to infiltrate into the ground, now flow quickly through storm sewers and into our lakes and streams. This short-term spike in water flow exacerbates flooding and erosion problems as well as delivers large amounts of nutrients and sediments into our waters. The use of rain gardens, rain barrels, pervious paving and other runoff reduction methods can greatly increase on-site treatment of stormwater and help improve the quality of the lakes and streams we all enjoy.
