Latest / The Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Podcast / Episode 57 | Fall Leaves Clean Streams
Transcript
- Episode 57 | Fall Leaves Clean Streams 00:00:06:04 - 00:00:42:09 Todd Gleason This is the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy podcast, episode 57. Fall leaves, clean streams: how leaf management impacts water quality. I'm Illinois Extension's Todd Gleason. Coming up, we'll discuss how fall leaf management has a direct impact on water quality in your backyard, the storm water systems for your subdivision and across the nation. We're joined by Eliana Brown. She's a water quality and stormwater specialist with the University of Illinois Extension, located on the Urbana-Champaign campus of the U of I. Eliana. 00:00:42:10 - 00:00:47:02 Todd Gleason Thank you for being with us. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself? 00:00:47:04 - 00:01:03:23 Eliana Brown Well I'm a water quality and stormwater specialist with Illinois Extension and Illinois Indiana Sea Grant. I work for Extension assistant dean, Doctor Sheba Carr, who is program leader for natural resources, environment and energy. And I focus on the urban impacts to when we mix in rivers. 00:01:03:26 - 00:01:14:19 Eliana Brown Now, I used to lead extension's role in the nutrient loss reduction strategy, and I have shifted my focus, but continue working with the team supporting the urban stormwater sector. 00:01:14:21 - 00:01:23:21 Todd Gleason So how is it, for instance, because we're in this fall time frame, that fall leaves impact nutrient loss. 00:01:23:24 - 00:01:29:23 Eliana Brown It's a great question. Leaves are a significant source of phosphorus from urban stormwater. 00:01:29:25 - 00:01:55:10 Eliana Brown There was a multi-year USGS study in Wisconsin that found that nearly 60% of the annual phosphorus from urban systems can come from fall leaves. We might not have really thought about that as a source, but it is a significant source. When we think about it in the forest, tree leaves release valuable nutrients that enrich the soil, creating a cycle of nutrition that sustains the trees from which they fell. 00:01:55:12 - 00:02:11:19 Eliana Brown However, in urban systems, we interrupt this cycle with our street storm drains that take water directly to lakes and rivers without treatment. And so what would have been nourishing the soil gets into the water instead where it doesn't belong, causing local water quality issues. 00:02:11:21 - 00:02:17:19 Todd Gleason Let's talk a little bit about, leaf management, but sustainable leaf management to begin with. 00:02:17:26 - 00:02:24:29 Todd Gleason And we'll get back to that word sustainable in this. How does Sustainable Leaf management impact water quality? 00:02:25:02 - 00:02:48:10 Eliana Brown Keeping leaves out of the street allows us to utilize the leaf nutrients in ways that work to our advantage. The USDA study found that timely removal of leaf litter can reduce phosphorus concentrations in stormwater by more than 80%. The study also stated that nutrient concentrations in urban stormwater are a function of how clean the streets are prior to precipitation. 00:02:48:13 - 00:02:58:00 Eliana Brown Therefore, municipalities should aim to run street sweepers in a way that maximizes street cleanliness before rain events, while, of course, balancing the energy costs. 00:02:58:02 - 00:03:01:29 Todd Gleason So how is it that a homeowner might manage their fall leaves? 00:03:02:07 - 00:03:15:18 Eliana Brown In some places, it's customary for homeowners to put leaves on the street. Don't do that. Some people say to remove all the leaves, but when we do that, we're missing out on providing overwintering pollinator habitat. 00:03:15:20 - 00:03:38:00 Eliana Brown So what I do at my own place is to remove leaves from my front yard, and I get my wheelbarrow, and I take them to my backyard compost pile. In my backyard, where it's unlikely for leaves to get into storm drains, I do leave them to benefit the insects. I also have a lot of shade trees back there, and my, turf grass really doesn't stand a chance. 00:03:38:00 - 00:04:04:24 Eliana Brown So it works out in my backyard. Now, one caveat if I had young landscape plants, I give some thought as to whether the leaves would smother them, so I'd be really careful with that. I think the bottom line is that it's okay to have different zones on our yards where we do different leaf management. We just want to think intentionally about it so we can be a sustainable as possible. 00:04:04:27 - 00:04:11:19 Todd Gleason And finally, what are some other practices that homeowners might think about using to reduce nutrient loss? 00:04:11:22 - 00:04:33:01 Eliana Brown I am so glad you asked that question, Todd. Homeowners can look for ways to reduce the amount of stormwater runoff shedding off their properties by using sustainable lawn care, reducing hard surfaces, which isn't always easy to do. And then lastly, we're capturing the water to use it where it lands. On that last point, rain gardens. 00:04:33:03 - 00:05:00:09 Eliana Brown And I know you're really surprised to hear that. I could probably talk about regards a little bit, but rain gardens are a great way of doing that. Some resources for doing these things are, Illinois-Indiana sea grant’s lawn to Lake program has some really great resources on system sustainable lawn care. Of course, the the Red Oak Rain Garden project that I'm involved with has a website, Red Oak Rain Garden dot org. 00:05:00:11 - 00:05:11:12 Eliana Brown And then there's also some videos I did a few years ago called Stormwater at Home. And you can see those at go.illinois.edu slash stormwater home. 00:05:11:14 - 00:05:12:27 Todd Gleason What is a rain garden? 00:05:12:28 - 00:05:24:25 Eliana Brown A rain garden is a shallow basin that's used to capture stormwater runoff, such as what would come off the house roof and they typically include native plants and sometimes have soil amendments to ensure that. 00:05:24:25 - 00:05:47:28 Eliana Brown And this is important, to ensure that the water soaks in within two days. So that doesn't become a mosquito issue. So the rain garden is kind of the grand concept of them, is that they mimic the ecological function of a natural landscape, helping to mitigate flooding and improve water quality. We're kind of, you know, bringing back a little pieces where we're bringing back what was originally here. 00:05:48:00 - 00:06:02:29 Eliana Brown They can be beautiful, enhancing any existing landscape. If you want to learn more about them, extension does have a training program called Rain Scaping, and you can look in your county unit to see if that's going to be offered. 00:06:03:02 - 00:06:12:23 Todd Gleason Eliana Brown is water quality and stormwater specialist for University of Illinois Extension. Chris Enroth is a horticulturalist with extension. 00:06:12:26 - 00:06:21:25 Todd Gleason He joins us now. Hi, Chris. Thanks for taking some time with us. Tell me how your job interacts with water quality. 00:06:21:27 - 00:06:41:05 Chris Enroth A lot of what I do helps to give homeowners or commercial farmers that grow fruits and vegetables best practices, in terms of recommended rates of maybe fertilizers or pesticides or how to manage, their landscapes or their farms or their clients landscapes. 00:06:41:12 - 00:06:58:01 Chris Enroth In order to minimize the inputs that we need to introduce into our landscapes and to kind of maximize the benefit, both kind of when it comes to time, when it comes to money and the enjoyment of, dealing with the environment around us. 00:06:58:03 - 00:07:06:17 Todd Gleason So put that in context for me, if you could, with the urban environment, which is part of the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction strategy. 00:07:06:20 - 00:07:39:03 Chris Enroth So one way that I, play a role with, kind of reducing the amount of nutrients that's lost in an urban setting is we focus on that urban canopy, and that urban canopy deals a lot, with, trees, tree management, working with local arborists and municipalities on how we can better manage, our, our urban trees and how we can make sure that we have a diverse canopy that maybe is, more resilient to invasive species and insects like emerald ash borer. 00:07:39:05 - 00:08:06:05 Chris Enroth And then when we have a good urban canopy that helps to intercept some of the, that rainfall, that stormwater coming down, it acts as this giant umbrella over our cities, which, instead of rain falling directly on the ground, it filters through the canopies of that tree and slows it down and allows our stormwater infrastructure a bit more time, to to handle some of that water. 00:08:06:05 - 00:08:23:29 Chris Enroth And, and it reduces some of those more, you know, flash flood or those flashy events, as we call them. And slow water carries less, things like sediment and nutrients. And so it's less likely to move stuff off of a home lawn or a property. 00:08:24:07 - 00:08:32:21 Todd Gleason Have you thought very much about what a homeowner might do in this case, especially as it's related to the management of leaves in the fall? 00:08:32:24 - 00:09:04:02 Chris Enroth I would say one of the big things to consider when managing your your fall leaves on your site is to avoid moving those leaves off of your property. The idea here is to manage those leaves within your yard, within your landscape. We do see on many occasions where folks might just blow or, you know, rake leaves out into the road and that becomes then somebody else's problem. 00:09:04:04 - 00:09:25:10 Chris Enroth The issue with this is that we're introducing a lot of organic material into our stormwater system, which feeds into our lakes, streams and rivers. And this additional organic matter. It is full of nutrients. Leaves do have quite a bit of nutrients that, you know, they have nitrogen. They do have a lot of phosphorus, too, which is a primary water pollutant. 00:09:25:12 - 00:09:59:07 Chris Enroth And that addition, you know, that addition of leaf matter or organic matter can cause nutrient imbalances in our surface water. It also and we see more research showing that, waterways that have more organic material, like mowed grass clippings and leaf clippings. If these waterways that have more of that organic debris suspended in that water, actually a increased, kind of a that creates an increased, area for mosquito breeding. 00:09:59:10 - 00:10:19:05 Chris Enroth It's just more of desirable. It's more, you know, it's a better space for, mosquito larva to breed in water with more organic material. The main thing I think homeowners, need to do in managing their leaves is, is avoid pushing those leaves out into a street where then they'll be washed away into the stormwater system. 00:10:19:08 - 00:10:22:23 Chris Enroth And then create all the types of problems downstream. 00:10:22:26 - 00:10:31:11 Todd Gleason Is there anything else you think a homeowner might consider or should probably consider, as it's related to managing the leaves in their yard? 00:10:31:14 - 00:10:44:14 Chris Enroth Fall leaves in the home landscape, on a farm, or a commercial landscape can be utilized on site. Those leaves contain, Not only do they contain a lot of nutrients, they contain, energy. 00:10:44:14 - 00:11:10:15 Chris Enroth They contain carbohydrates. They they feed soil microbes, organisms. So they can be utilized on site. Probably one of the most effective ways is to shred the leaves up and throw them in the compost pile. And turning that that those leaves into compost. Then for the following season, we can also utilize leaves just as, in our lawns. And so if you have a mulching mower blade, you can run those leaves over, shred them up. 00:11:10:21 - 00:11:32:17 Chris Enroth And those that shredded leaves, they will sift down onto that soil surface and help to feed your lawn over the long term. We can also utilize leaves as a mulch. So you could shred the leaves up, and shredded leaves to create a very nice mulch. And myself, I have kind of this woodland garden bed on the back side of my, my property. 00:11:32:22 - 00:11:54:06 Chris Enroth And I utilize a lot of our fall leaves within that garden bed because it has kind of a woodland theme, and it really does work out fairly well. It's also important is to know that there is a lot of beneficial insects, whether it's pollinators or predators, that utilize fall leaves as cover for the winter time. So it's their shelter. 00:11:54:09 - 00:12:11:26 Chris Enroth And so if you do have a space in your yard, you know, we do recommend, you know, if there's, if the leaves aren't going to blow off, you know, into somebody else's yard or into the roadway, utilize a space of your yard where maybe you can rake or push some of those leaves into an area. Again, they could just it could be a mulch for a garden bed. 00:12:11:29 - 00:12:43:29 Chris Enroth And then that space can then be a great habitat for overwintering insects. It's also a great space come springtime for birds to begin gathering nesting materials and protein for their, further nestlings. And so, leaves can be utilized on site. They can be used in many different ways. It's just, making sure that we, don't push those leaves out into a roadway or into a ditch, which then wash away and then become someone else's problem. 00:12:44:02 - 00:13:07:10 Todd Gleason Chris Enroth is with the University of Illinois Extension. So is Elliana Brown. Both of them joined us for this episode 57 of the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Podcast. Fall leaves clean streams. The program was produced in conjunction with the Illinois Extension Watershed Outreach Associates. Rachel Curry and Nicole Haverback. I'm University of Illinois Extension's Todd Gleason.