Professional Recommendations
for HOAs & Property Managers

Litter is a huge problem in Louisiana and we handle this issue directly every day with pond and lake management. Litter is ugly and picking it up is no fun. When it gets wet in your pond or lake it is less likely to get removed, but it has real consequences. Keeping litter away from water bodies and storm drains is important for several reasons including maintaining water quality.

• Litter lowers your property values.
• Litter encourages disrespect of property and more litter.
• Litter can damage or kill wildlife.
• Litter in your waterbody or storm drain can eventually find its way to larger natural waters or even the Gulf of Mexico.
• Litter can damage fountains, and cause repair bills and service interruptions.

Common litter making its way to your neighborhood pond or lake: Fishing line, ketchup packets, plastic grocery bags, tennis balls, fast food containers (some with food), and kids toys are all common. Construction debris is common in neighborhoods still adding homes. (Lumber, insulation, house wrap, and food containers) The long list of things we have removed from ponds?… Well, I will spare you.

How can you help?

• Post a sign at the pond/lake and make a trash can available.
• Communicate to contractors that they need to keep trash and debris contained on their worksite for disposal.
• Avoid any loose debris from trash or lawn waste near storm drains on your street. Many of those storm drains are going directly to your stormwater retention pond/lake.
• Pick up dry trash near the shoreline before the wind/rain deposits it in the water and make it wet trash that is less fun to remove.
• If you have people that fish the pond they should be specifically instructed not to throw tangled fishing line or baits in the water and to take all bait containers, etc. with them.

If you walk your dog in a designated green space, it is polite to pick up their waste and dispose of it in a trash receptacle. Some homeowner associations, parks, or apartment complexes will even provide the trash receptacle and bio degradable bags. Biodegradable bags do not simply mean that you should throw your pet waste in a natural area for nature to take care of it.  Believe it or not it is very common for people that are inconsiderate to throw pet waste bags directly into the water at a pond/lake when no one is looking. In addition to making unsanitary conditions for your neighbors, the neighborhood kids, and professionals maintaining your pond/lake, it rapidly adds nutrients to the pond which can lead to algae and nuisance vegetation growth.

Make receptacles and bags available, and maintain them. Use signage to give instructions and raise awareness.

We all love animals. Animals make waste. Properly dispose of it.

Should you consider stocking your neighborhood pond or lake? This is a good idea, especially for water bodies connected with a park or other greenspace with access to the residents.

A few possible negatives:

• A good fishery will attract more activity to the pond/lake and as long as they respect the area and clean up, this is a positive. This can also mean that visitors who are not residents may try to visit your pond to fish. There may be conflict with access to the pond/lake in and through homeowners property, the use of boats, catch and release, as well as conflict between usage groups- the homeowners adjacent to the pond/lake verses the whole neighborhood.
• That being said, a fishery can be a wonderful addition to your neighborhood assets. Parents and kids can fish together and fishing is great for kids. It can be a nice social activity as you fish with your neighbors too. Kids can “accidentally” get interested in biology as well.

We service fountains on a regular basis for warranty and non-warranty work, and there are a few things you can do to reduce the service interruptions on the aerating fountain in your pond/lake.

• Keep trash and debris out of the water body, whether that is a personal responsibility or whether it is contracted with a management company. Plastic grocery bags and fishing line are the most destructive.
• Encourage people fishing not to cast towards the fountain. There are ropes holding the fountain securely in place and there are also electrical power cables that are used to operate the fountain and lights. Frequently we encounter fish baits that are hung old the fountain ropes and occasionally on the power cables. Hooks that pierce the jacket on a power cable allow water to enter and will not allow the fountain to operate. These repairs can be quite costly if ignored and avoiding them is best. Raise awareness with your neighbors, and especially young people, fishing to stay away from fountains and to not cast near them. They also need to pick up all gear and debris when done. The people most active around a pond/lake can become the greatest defenders of it with some education.
• Also mulch should never be added near a shoreline where it can be flushed into a pond/lake during a heavy rain storm. Hardwood mulch you can jam a fountain propeller and lock the motor. Once again this is best avoided to reduce fountain maintenance costs and product damage. Other mulch can cause simple clogs or just general unsightly debris on the water. Consider sodding or a groundcover species for areas near the water instead of a mulched bed. Mulch is never a good solution to eroded areas near a shoreline.