BMPs have been described for agriculture, forest management, and construction. This fact sheet describes BMPs you can adopt on your shoreland property to help protect and preserve water quality. In many cases, the best management for shorelands may be retaining the natural characteristics of your property. It is obvious that wave-pounded properties lose soil and ultimately their value. What is not as obvious is that this erosion process can be accelerated or slowed by the practices you adopt, and that sediment going into the lake or river is a pollutant.
Erosion is a natural process and, therefore, some sediment does end up in surface water.
Clearing shoreland vegetation and beach rocks, and increasing runoff to the shore will accelerate shoreland erosion. Slumping of waterfront bluffs results from unstable soil, usually because surface or ground water is reaching the bluff. On lakes, waves can erode supporting soil at the bottom of the bluff and cause slumping. Along river bluffs, river currents may erode the supporting soil. If diverting water away from the bluff is impractical, it should be routed through a nonperforated plastic drain pipe that outlets at the very bottom of the bluff.