Full Notification

How can you help Deal Lake:

Please do not blow/Rake your leaves, grass clippings or yard debris into Deal Lake or its feeder streams or lakes. Ensure you comply with Ocean Township Landscaper Guidelines:

Grass clippings and leaf litter are storm-water pollutants.
Yard debris, including leaves and other organic plant material like shrubbery trimmings and grass clippings, are a significant source of storm-water pollution. When you blow your lawn waste into the street it can clog storm drains and cause drainage and flooding issues. Storm drains are not connected to the wastewater treatment plant. There is no treatment to remove the debris from the water before it reaches nearby lakes, and streams.

Why are grass clippings and leaf litter harmful? As this waste breaks down in our local waterways, it adds excess nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus to the water. This leads to unwanted and uncontrolled growth of algae and native and non-native aquatic weeds.

What is so bad about algae? Algae will naturally occur in lakes and ponds, but excess nutrients can lead to high levels of algae growth which happens almost every year in Deal Lake. Apart from looking unsightly, excessive algae blooms can block out sunlight and deplete the oxygen level in the water, which can lead to fish kills and limit lake use.

What can you do to protect water quality while keeping your yard maintained?

- Mow your lawn often enough so no more than one-third the length of the grass is removed. Taller grass has deeper roots - that prevents soil loss & helps the rain soak into the ground.

- Leave the clippings on the lawn or compost them. Be sure to sweep or blow clippings off paved surfaces and back onto the lawn.

- Fertilize only when necessary, or not at all if it might rain in the next day or two.

- In the fall, place leaves for municipal collection and away from storm drains. Leave space by the curb for water to flow to drains. DO NOT BLOW THEM IN THE LAKE!

- Clean up after your pets. Scoop up pet waste and put it in the trash.

- Only use dry cleanup methods (broom and dustpan or absorbent chemicals or fuels; never hose a spill into a storm drain!

- Directing your roof drains to a rain garden can significantly reduce the storm-water runoff from your property.

Ocean Twp Pollution Prevention Program
http://www.oceantwp.org/content/5937/6802/default.aspx

Thanks Your Deal Lake Commissioner, Don Brockel, Visit facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DealLake or web site: https://deallake.org/
Thanks to Goshen Department of Stormwater for reference material.