Don’t Dump Those Leaves

In The Water

To the Editor:

Spring has finally arrived, and homeowners, renters, and professional yardmen are hastening to rake up last fall’s leaves and cut back deadwood to show off the new growth that has started to push through the earth. This is a good time to remember where all those raked leaves and collected clippings should not be deposited and to let anyone who works with you or for you know that this material should not be blown or dumped into any river, pond, or wetland. No matter which waterway or wetland is a dumping target, dumping in those sensitive areas can have serious consequences.

1. Excess leaves can clog culverts, fill ponds or the backside of a dam, and make the river shallower and more prone to flooding or the need for expensive dredging.

2. Shallower waterways and ponds make the water warmer, thereby discouraging fish and encouraging unsightly algal blooms.

3. Excess leaves can produce organic loading and create an organic imbalance. As insects work to process the material, they expel nutrients that overenrich downstream ponds and Long Island Sound, cause algal blooms, and deplete oxygen — sometimes causing fish kills.

4. Repeated dumping into a watercourse or wetland over a period of time without a permit is considered filling and can incur a fine from the local inland wetland board.

5. Besides increasing environmental problems, dumping leaves — instead of composting them or broadcasting them into woodlands to decompose naturally — eliminates a source of rich soil beneficial to gardens and healthy landscapes.

Some leaves will fall naturally, of course, into rivers and wetlands, but it’s important not to concentrate the accumulation, overload the systems, or create an imbalance. Proper disposal of leaves by composting them or broadcasting them into your woodlands is one easy way for each person to make a difference to our important waterways and wetlands. For more information, people may contact their local conservation commission, inland wetlands board, or NRWA (www.norwalkriver.org).

Sincerely,

Lillian Willis

Vice President

Norwalk River Watershed Association

PO Box 197, Georgetown                                                April 25, 2005