This content is based on DNR Publication WT-821 2012 updated in 2021, written by Lynn Markham and Kate Demorest, Center for Land Use Education.

The following list describes a range of practices that can be done to protect your property investment. Before beginning projects on your waterfront property or in the nearshore area, it is important to check local and state permitting requirements. Call your local county zoning office to inquire about projects at the ordinary high water mark and landward. For projects occurring in a waterbody, review the Wisconsin DNR’s frequently asked questions.

Practice 1: Build Far From The Shore

Locate all new buildings, additions, and septic systems far from the shore to ensure they will be on stable ground over the long term. Building, rebuilding, or expanding buildings close to the shore could become a poor investment due to changing water levels, collapsing banks, and rivers that move to new locations over time. Septic systems should also be located far from the water, so they do not leach into a nearby lake or stream. If you own a structure close to the water, consider purchasing flood insurance even if the structure is not located in a regulated floodplain.

Practice 2: Minimize The Hard Surfaces On Your Property

Runoff from hard (impervious) surfaces like rooftops and driveways can carry sediment, nutrients, and other pollutants into lakes and streams which can impact the populations of many fish species, including walleye, bass, northern pike, perch, and crappies.

• Nutrients promote growth of algae and aquatic plants. When the plants and algae die and decompose, they use up oxygen, which fish need to survive.
• Sediment and algae growth make it difficult for some predator species that hunt by sight to find food.
• Sediment can cover spawning beds of fish, such as smallmouth bass and walleye, and impact reproduction.

Practice 3: Minimize Erosion During Construction

During construction there are more opportunities for exposed soil to wash into nearby lakes or streams. When you’re planning a construction project, follow these steps to protect waterbodies nearby:

• Minimize hard surfaces and divert runoff around disturbed areas to minimize erosion.
• Develop a proper erosion control plan.
• Limit clearing and grading, especially on slopes that drain to the shoreline.
• Fence the area to be cleared to limit construction damage.
• After construction, establish vegetation right away.

Practice 4: Minimize Fertilizer Use

Only add fertilizer to your lawn if a soil test shows your soils are short on nutrients—most lawns aren’t. If your soil is short on nutrients, avoid fertilizers that contain phosphorus. Remember, it’s phosphorus that accelerates algae growth in lakes and streams.

Practice 5: Inspect And Maintain Your Septic System Regularly

Most waterfront homeowners in Wisconsin utilize a septic system, although some densely developed lakes have converted to public sanitary sewer systems. Owners of private septic systems have a responsibility to protect their family’s health as well as to protect the surface and groundwater from contamination. Properly functioning systems are designed to remove most disease-causing human pathogens but generally are NOT designed to remove or treat water-soluble nutrients or pollutants. The more water and material that goes into your septic system, more comes out into your drain field. Research on septic systems located in sandy soils in Wisconsin shows that both phosphorus and nitrates migrate underground over 150 feet from drain fields. If these seeping nutrients reach a nearby lake, they can contribute to aquatic plant growth and algae blooms. There are several activities you can implement in order to protect your septic system, such as inspecting your system every three years or avoiding driving and parking on the drain field to prevent compaction of the soil.  Videos released by the EPA,  "Don't Overload the Commode" and “Think at the Sink” explain how to be mindful in your home to protect your septic system.

Practice 6: Reduce Use Of Hazardous Chemicals And Safely Dispose 

Reduce your use of hazardous chemicals; if you wouldn’t drink it, don’t dump it. If these chemicals are applied to the ground, they can end up in our drinking water, lakes, and streams. To dispose of these chemicals safely, search by product type or look up your county’s clean sweep schedule.

Practice 7: Protect Your Natural Areas

Natural shorelands contain a lush mixture of native grasses, flowers, shrubs, and trees that help to reduce and filter polluted runoff and provide important habitat for songbirds and other animals on the land and in the water. In contrast, lawns provide habitat for geese, which can become a nuisance and create runoff laden with sediments, pollutants, and nutrients. The trees, shrubs, and plants in natural shorelands not only create privacy for both the homeowner and the lake user but may also act as a noise buffer. If possible, larger natural areas provide more benefits; however, any amount of natural area is better than none.

Practice 8: Restore Your Shoreland Buffer And In-Water Habitat

If you have native vegetation along your shoreline, consider yourself fortunate. A mature native buffer represents many years of natural processes at work and discourages undesirable, non-native plants and animals while attracting songbirds, butterflies, turtles, and frogs.

If you have lawn to the water’s edge, a simple, no-cost way to get started in restoring your shoreland is to stop mowing next to the water. Seeds in the soil will germinate and valuable native plants will begin to reappear. If you would like to play a more active role in restoring your shoreline, visit Wisconsin Healthy Lakes & Rivers to learn more about different ways to take action.

Finally, leave fallen trees and branches in the water or intentionally add woody habitat (i.e., complete Fish Stick Projects. When trees and branches fall into the water, they form critical habitat for tiny aquatic organisms that feed bluegills, young game fish, turtles, crayfish, and other critters. Smallmouth and largemouth bass spawn near fallen trees. When game fish first hatch from their eggs, they are less than an inch long and use fallen trees and aquatic plants in the water as cover to survive.

Practice 9: Install An Infiltration Area

A rock infiltration area is an excavated pit or trench filled with rock that provides space for runoff to soak into the ground slowly. It is appropriate for sandy to loamy soils only, not clay! Rain gardens are a better option to infiltrate water in clay soils.

Practice 10: Build A Rain Garden

Rain Gardens: A Guide for Homeowners and Landscapers provides easy-to-follow instructions to create a rain garden, including guidance on size, location, and maintenance. Rain barrels can be helpful for watering plants but typically hold much less water than an infiltration area or a rain garden. Direct downspouts into your rain garden, natural areas, lawn, or rain barrels, not onto hard surfaces.

The Wisconsin Association of Floodplain, Stormwater, and Coastal Managers (WAFSCM) is hosting the 2026 Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) National Conference at the Baird Center in Milwaukee from May 31 – June 4, 2026.  Floodplain Managers from the host state (Village/City/County Government & Tribal Officials) are eligible to apply for a scholarship to attend the 2026 ASFPM National Conference.

This scholarship will cover the registration fee for early conference registration. There will be 34 scholarships available for award to state community floodplain managers. These scholarships are funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) through the Community Assistance Program - State Support Services Element (CAP-SSSE) grant received by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Workshops and field tours, overnight accommodations, travel, and other expenses will not be covered by the scholarship and will be the responsibility of the recipient or their agency.  Applications in excess of the available scholarships will be added to a waitlist and notified if a scholarship becomes available.

The scholarship application period is now open. Applications should be submitted no later than Jan. 16, 2026.

Scholarship criteria include:

• Be a Village/City/County Government or Tribal Official performing floodplain management duties within the state of Wisconsin.
• Attend the full conference (Tuesday, June 2 – Thursday, June 4, 2026).
• Volunteer at the conference for at least 4 hours. Volunteer positions range from room monitoring, checking badges, etc. No heavy lifting will be required.
• Complete and return the Scholarship Application by the specified deadline.

Membership in WAFSCM or ASFPM is not necessary to apply for and/or receive a scholarship and will not be a factor in choosing successful applicants. Twelve (12) Continuing Education Credits (CECs) toward Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM) accreditation are available for attendance at this conference.

Notification of scholarships will be provided by Feb. 2, 2026, and a special scholarship code will be provided for awardees prior to registration. Do not complete ASFPM’s online conference registration until you receive the scholarship code if you are awarded.

Those NOT receiving a scholarship will still have time to register at the early discount rate between February and April 2026.

2026 ASFPM National Conference information can be found online.