April 28, 2022 at 4:04 p.m.
Oneida County project looks at effectiveness of shoreline improvement techniques, property owner compliance
Oneida County project looks at effectiveness of shoreline improvement techniques, property owner compliance
She reviewed different sites completed in different years for the committee. She checked on some shoremax matting at a site from 2020 and said the department was very happy with how the matting was holding up and deterring erosion at the site.
She also reviewed some sites were rip rap was placed and where native plantings were used to stop erosion issues, as well as to provide habitat for pollinators and other native species. Three of these sites were created in 2011, 2015 and 2016. All of them were well maintained and were deemed successes.
Ehrig also spoke about two sites, with practices installed in 2016, where native plantings were used on their own. One project, with its last phase in 2016, she said, was a great example of the progression of native plantings over time. This particular site was a home on Squash Lake and was a multi-year project. This project also showed how native plantings could be used while still keeping a good viewing corridor to the lake.
Sediment and fiber logs were also used in several projects, she said. She highlighted two projects from 2010. Both homeowners, she said, told her the fiber logs were no longer visible after approximately five years. The logs, however, did help with erosion issues and worked to solve the problems the land owners were having.
Ehrig also reviewed a project where a pervious walkway was installed. This project was from 2016 as well. These walkways allow runoff from impervious surfaces to filter down through the soil rather than allowing it to wash off into the nearby lake.
In another 2018 project, multiple native plantings were initially installed behind some rip rap on a property. Last summer's project found the native plantings had not been maintained. Ehrig said the county would work with the landowner to get those practices back on the landscape and get things back on track and to create native plantings that would not be mowed.
Another project, created in 2010, used a netting that was shown to not degrade. It showed no signs of wear at all and stayed obvious on the landscape. Now, she said, biodegradable netting, which is better, but in a practice installed in 2016, the netting was still visible, even five years later.
Ehrig went over the conclusions to her study with the land and water committee. She said the soil filled bags worked well, with the bags still being in place up to ten years later. Rock rip rap, too, held up well in the practices she reviewed last summer.
Native plantings depended on maintenance, she said. With these plantings, it is important for home owners to limit deer browse with fencing or some other means, until the plantings are established. From there, they should be maintained and not mowed. Surrounding habitat, too, had an effect on native plantings. In areas where there was high soil acidity, such as near conifers, native plantings did not do as well.
She also spoke about the non-biodegradable netting in her wrap up. She said it proved to be a wildlife hazard and was very long lasting. That was the reason for the change to a biodegradable netting, when needed. Sediment and fiber longs in the practices she surveyed were gone after ten years.
Ehrig said follow up visits to sites where cost share projects had been implements was important. It was important first to assess the viability of different practices, but also to check on landowner compliance and what issues landowners may have faced keeping their practices maintained. The county would continue to work with any land owners found to not be in compliance with the cost share agreements, giving them recommendations on how to improve things that may have fallen by the wayside in their completed projects. All landowners whose properties were surveyed would receive a report. Many landowners would not need a follow-up, however, she said, because either their practices were over 10 years old or there were no issues with the condition of them.
Beckie Gaskill may be reached via email at [email protected].
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