AVOIDING EROSION
The Environmental Protection Agency lists sediment as the number one pollutant of our creeks and rivers, but it shouldn’t be. Much of that sediment, mostly soil, is flowing into water bodies because of human activities, a situation called erosion. To avoid eroding your soils, please take a moment to think before carrying out certain activities. For instance, don’t plow or harvest timber directly adjacent to a wetland, creek or waterway. State conservation agencies recommend maintaining soil integrity by minimizing activities near wetlands in order to protect water quality. Leave a vegetation buffer within 50 feet of any water to avoid soil erosion — if you can leave 100 feet, that’s even better! For additional information, visit
sciencebuddies.org.
If you have land that continues to erode away, establish native vegetation on it immediately because the roots will help secure the soil. If that doesn’t work, add something like haybales staked into the ground to slow down the rain’s runoff which is causing the erosion. Save your soil and other sediments – do it for the owls.