WINONA LAKE — The Watershed Foundation and Indiana Department of Natural Resources are offering an informational session about healthy shorelines from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 9, at the Winona Lake Senior Center. The event is free and open to the public.

The accepted norm on many lakes is to have a mowed lawn up to the edge of a concrete seawall. Concrete seawalls are not natural or healthy for lakes. In fact, they disrupt the critical ribbon of life on lake shorelines, create added wave action, and stir up the bottom sediments. Sedimentation is the suspension of nutrients and material in lakes, which is one of the main reasons for algae growth, green muck and fish scarcity in lakes.

Healthy shorelines and adjacent lawns have an abundance of plants both on the land and in the water. Glacial stone, or rock, seawalls are an improvement over concrete because they help slow wave action. Natural shorelines can also be incredibly beautiful and easy to maintain without interfering with recreation.

Examples of projects under the TWF Healthy Shorelines Initiative include stone re-facing of concrete seawalls, bioengineered seawalls, and glacial stone seawalls.

The Watershed Foundation, in collaboration with Winona Lake Preservation Association, is also announcing the second year of an initiative that will help protect and improve water quality in Winona Lake.

The Health Shorelines Initiative provides 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.

In order to be eligible, the project site must be located on Winona Lake and the applicant must pay at least 25 percent of the total cost of the project. Applications are available on the TWF website and the application deadline is June 15.

For more information, contact The Watershed Foundation at [email protected] or (574) 834-3242.