Healthy  Lakes &  High
        Property Values
  Facts and resources to help real estate professionals
     protect our nation's lakes and lake shorelines
       Real estate professionals are
       important partners in main-
 taining and restoring the quality of
 our nation's lakes."Lakeshore prop-
 erty is in demand because of the
 amenities or benefits [it] provide[s]
 its owners, such as water based
 recreation possibilities, an aesthetic
 setting for a home, tranquility away
 from urban and commercial life, and
 perhaps the privilege or esteem of
 owning an increasingly scarce and
 valuable resource."1  Since the value
 of lakeshore property is tied to the
 quality of the adjacent lake, real
 estate professionals  have a vested
 interest in helping homebuyers and
 communities restore and protect
 their lakes.

    In April 2010, the U.S. Environ-
 mental Protection Agency pub-
 lished the National Lakes Assess-
 ment (NLA), the first-ever baseline
 study of the condition of the
 nation's lakes.The NLA finds that
 44% of U.S. lakes are in fair or poor
 condition, and that, of the problems
 assessed, poor lakeshore habitat has
 the greatest impact on lake health.
   Lakeshore habitat refers to the
trees, shrubs, and tall grasses that
grow along the shore of a lake and
overhang the water. Poor lake-
shore habitat occurs when native
trees and shrubs are removed from
around the lake and replaced by
manicured lawns, armored bulk-
heads, paved areas, buildings, and
docks. Healthy native vegetation
strengthens and preserves the lake
shoreline, provides shelter, habitat,
and food sources for lake fish and
wildlife, and helps protect the lake
from the impacts of pollution, such
as runoff from paved surfaces or
erosion from construction sites.

   Clean lakes with healthy natural
shorelines are good for everyone.
They provide aesthetic value, recre-
ational opportunities, higher prop-
erty values, jobs, and a higher tax
base.2 Maine and Minnesota con-
ducted two studies linking the high
quality of lakes with higher property
values. The 2005 Maine study found
that good water quality on lakes
can increase recreational revenues
by millions and individual property
values by billions over time.3
    Resources for

     Real Estate

    Professionals


     EPA Clean Lakes
www.epa.gov/owow/lakes

Choosing the Right
Waterfront Property
Wisconsin DNR & UW Extension

www.uwsp.ed u/cn r/u wexla kes/
publications/choosingProperty/
ChoosingRightWaterfrontProperty.
pdf

Protecting Your Waterfront
Investment-10 Sim pie
Shoreland Stewardship
Practices
Wisconsin DNR & UW Extension

http://clean-water.uwex.edu/pubs/
pdf/shore.waterfront.pdf

Lakeshore Property Values &
Water Quality: Evidence from
Property Sales in the Missis-
sippi Headwaters Region
Mississippi Headwaters Board and
Bemidji State University

www.friendscvsf.org/bsu_study.pdf

The Economics of Lakes-
Dollars and $ense
Maine Bureau of Land & Water
Quality
                                                                           United States
                                                                           Environmental Protection
                                                                           Agency
                                                                      www.maine.gov/dep/blwq/
                                                                      doclake/research.htm

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      Both the Maine and Minnesota studies found that there is a positive relationship between water clarity and
      property values. In Minnesota, the study found that if lakes experienced a one-meter change in water clar-
ity, the "expected property price changes for these lakes are in the magnitude of tens of thousands to millions of
dollars."5 The study also found that homebuyers are influenced by water clarity when making purchases and are
willing to pay more for a better environment.
Manicured lawns require lawn chemicals that can wash into the
lake. Shallow grass roots and decorative rocks do not stabilize the
shoreline or provide habitat for lake fish.
Deep-rooted native trees and shrubs stabilize the shoreline,
provide a buffer against pollution, and improve habitat for lake
fish and wildlife.
      Lakes Protection Tips for Real Estate  Professionals
  1. Educate yourself about clean lakes and
  environmentally-friendly lakescaping tech-
  niques

  2. Encourage homebuyers to learn about
  the health and water quality of the lakes
  where they are interested in owning prop-
  erty

  3. Provide homebuyers with contact infor-
  mation for nurseries or landscapers who sell
  or plant native trees, shrubs, and flowers

  4. Encourage homebuyers to minimize the
  size of their lawns and to keep trees and
  natural shoreline vegetation
 local ordinances, policies, and zoning restric-
 tions regulating lake shorelines and lakes to
 better serve your customer

 5. Recommend that homebuyers use "lakes-
 caping techniques"that will reduce runoff
 and improve the health of lakes

 6. Encourage homebuyers to use environ-
 mentally-friendly building techniques

 7. Share information with homebuyers
 about local lake clean-up and protection
 programs

 8. Get  involved in lakeshore communities to
 help homeowners increase their property
        and protect their lakes
       Additional resources on clean lakes are available at

               www.epa.gov/owow/lakes/
 1 Krysel, Charles, Elizabeth Boyer, Charles Parson, Patrick Welle (May 2003). "Lakeshore
 Property Values & Water Quality: Evidence from Property Sales in the Mississippi Head-
 waters Region."Mississippi Headwaters Board and Bemidji University, pgs 9-10.
 2 "The Economics of Lakes- Dollars and Sense. (2005). "Maine Department of Environ-
 mental Protection, Bureau of Land & Water Quality, pg 1.
 3 Ibid, 4lbid,pg2.
 5 Krysel, Charles, et al., pg 34.
        SEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
                         .eans, and Watersheds
        1200 Pennsylvania Ave, NWMail Code 4501-T
        Washington, D.C. 20460
        www.e pa .g ov/owow/l a kes
        www.twitter.com/EPAowow

        EPA-840-F-10-002

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