Here are steps you can take in your own day-to-day activities to help clean up the lakes:

•Limit your use of  pesticides and commercial fertilizers on gardens, lawns and fields.
•Keep empty cans, bottles and trash out of gutters, storm sewers and the lakes.
•Alert officials if you observe spills or conditions that  look potentially dangerous or severe erosion from construction sites.
•Divert your  roof downspouts to the lawn or a gravel drain; do not direct them to a street, driveway or paved surface leading to a storm sewer.
•Wash your car in a location where the  water will slowly infiltrate, such as the lawn or a gravel area.
•Take automobile oils to a recycling center. Don't drain oil into the  streets.
•Obey fishing, boating and shoreline regulations.
•Compost or mulch your leaves and grass clippings, or at least bag them for pickup. Keep leaves out of the street gutters.