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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