Clean Water Cooperator of the Month – November, 2019

Wendy and Dave Newsom bought their home on a large bay on upper Camelot from Wendy’s grandparents who had it built when the lakes were first developed in the 70s.  Wendy and Dave helped support the grandparents financially until they were ready to move into an alternate living arrangement, selling the home to Wendy and Dave about 20 years ago.  So, they were able to retain the lake home that had provided so much enjoyment to their family members for generations.

Their lot slopes steeply towards the lake and presented issues for mowing, and contributed to runoff into the lake.  The deteriorating seawall resulted in erosion at the waterline.  They knew they had to do something, so when the county announced a 50% match program for shoreline restoration about 10 years ago, they jumped at the opportunity.  Neither had the time or inclination to do the work themselves, so they sought a landscape contractor to do the project.  Adams County suggested Nick Homan, owner of Landscape Solutions, and chairman of the Adams County Lake Alliance.  Nick did the design, got all the permits and performed all the excavation and planting, including aquatic species at the waterline.  It was a complete turnkey project requiring only occasional weeding until the plants established themselves.  Their contractor surrounded the project with a plant called Rattlesnake Master which keeps the deer and geese away, even to this day.  Today, Dave mows the planted area down to about 6” in the fall and the plants come up stronger than ever in the spring.

So, was it a success?  Wendy, Dave and their neighbors sure think so.  It’s a haven for birds, bees and other pollinators, and the view of the 20 native species in bloom from their sunroom is pretty amazing.  Runoff and erosion are in check, and the aquatic plants at the water line attract frogs and other amphibians.  A nice, low maintenance solution and an example of a project farmed out to the experts, utilizing partial grant funding.  Today, that funding source is the Healthy Lakes Program, which can provide 75% of your project’s cost for any of 5 different types of restoration projects.  Contact Tri-Lakes or Dave Trudeau of the 14 Mile Creek Watershed Committee for more information or recommendations on how you can approach your project.