LAKES APPRECIATION MONTH

Each year the month of July is recognized as Lakes Appreciation Month!

Sure, you may work on them, play on them, drink from them and dive into them, but have you recently taken the time to really appreciate your local lake, pond, or reservoir?

With increasing populations, development, and stressors on our waterbodies we really need to take the time to consider where we’d be without water. All life relies on this valuable resource and we often take for granted that these resources will always be there and always be useable.

Click here to learn more about NALMS' Lake Appreciation Month efforts for 2013!

How to Make the Most out of Lakes Appreciation Month

With a whole month dedicated to Lakes Appreciation, why not take the time to enjoy your local freshwater resources and bring some attention to them, to either extoll their values or initiate action to protect, enhance, or rejuvenate them?

Following are some ideas for bringing attention to lakes, ponds and reservoirs near you.

  • Assist with volunteer monitoring activities on your waterbody or in your watershed
  • Participate in the annual Secchi Disk Dip-In. More information can be found online at http://www.secchidipin.org.
  • Take a day off and visit a local lake or pond
  • Go boating, kayaking, canoeing, sailing or rowing
  • Go swimming or SCUBA diving
  • Go fishing
  • If you are not a lake manager, contact your local lake management agency and see if you could shadow a limnologist for a day
  • If you are a lake manager, coordinate activities in your office or on a local waterbody for others to participate (bring sampling equipment, id keys and other interactive materials)
  • Organize a lake clean-up event
  • Organize a watershed clean-up event
  • Organize a watershed storm drain stenciling program
  • Have your septic system pumped if you live close to a waterbody
  • Go to a local or state park beach on the shores of a lake, pond or reservoir
  • Go birding or picture taking around a lake or pond
  • If you are an artist, draw or paint a lake scene and put it up in your home or office to remind yourself of the great time you had at the lake while you were creating this work of art
  • Organize a field trip for students
  • Organize a family day at a local lake or pond

Most of all, remember to enjoy and appreciate these valuable freshwater resources!