Nate Thomas, Lakes Permitting Biologist for the Division of Fish and Wildlife, gave a presentation on healthy shorelines and why they matter.

WARSAW — The Watershed Foundation held a workshop at Center Lake Pavilion Thursday, April 27, to announce the launch of a new program to protect and improve lakes in the Warsaw-Winona Lake community.

The Healthy Shorelines Initiative will provide grant assistance of up to $1,000 to homeowners for shoreline projects that improve water quality and shoreline habitat, while reducing erosion and decreasing runoff.

Many of Kosciusko’s lakes have concrete sea walls which are not natural or healthy for the lake. Concrete sea walls create added wave action, stirring up sediments that cause algae growth, green “muck” and cause fish scarcity. One option to solve this issue is to add glacial stone over a sea wall. This helps disperse energy from wave action, lowering turbidity levels and improving the health of the lake.

Some homeowners fear a natural shorelines will look messy, but with planning they can be incredibly beautiful by utilizing an array of native flowers, grasses and shrubs. A natural shoreline can also be very easy to maintain and cause no interference to recreation.

Examples of potential projects under the TWF Healthy Shorelines Initiative:

• stone re-facing of concrete seawalls
• bioengineered seawalls
• glacial stone seawalls

In order to be eligible, the project site must be located on Center, Chapman, Pike, or Winona Lakes, and the applicant must pay at least 25 percent of the total cost of the project. Payments will be made as a reimbursement. Applications are available on the TWF website. The application deadline is June 1.

For more information contact Lyn Crighton at The Watershed Foundation at [email protected] or (574) 834-3242, or go to The Watershed Foundation’s website.