Lawn to Lake

As part of implementing Water 2050, CMAP partnered with Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant on the Lawn to Lake program promoting healthy lawn and landscape practices in the Great Lakes region. Lawn to Lake program staff worked with the Northwest Water Planning Alliance (NWPA) and the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) to adapt the national Lawn to Lake Sustainable Lawn & Landscape Practices for Communities guide for this region. The adapted guide provides additional sections on lawn watering restrictions recently endorsed by the NWPA, as well as complementary outdoor water conservation tools.

With funding from the U.S. EPA Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a pollution prevention campaign was created to communicate the significant water conservation and quality benefits from reduced lawn watering. If you would like to commit to being a part of this effort through your lawn care practices, you can take Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant's Lawn to Lake pledge. The EPA has produced a short video on Healthy Lawncare practices and the City of Batavia also created an informational video on lawn watering. In addition to the pledge and manual, a suite of outreach cards for use at public outreach events is also available.