The Cumberland River Compact Marina Committee

Whether you're sitting aboard a houseboat, fishing for crappie or birdwatching along the banks; our Cumberland Rivers Lakes - actually reservoirs - offer an astounding array of beauty, wildlife habitat and recreation galore. At the Compact we're working through our Marina Committee to enhance the water quality of the Cumberland through education of boaters and marina owners on environmentally responsible marina and boating practices.

Two of the ways we do this are distributing and promoting the use of non-toxic, biodegradable boat cleaning and maintenance products and working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency to help marina owners achieve Clean Marina status. The Cumberland Basin Clean Marina Program offers marina owners a vehicle to protect the very natural resource which makes them their living.

While boaters, anglers, and wildlife watchers are major user groups for our lakes, more and more people are moving into homes with lakefront views. These homes provide a wonderful lifestyle but can also provide challenges to water quality because of greater runoff rates, higher chemical inputs and sometimes failing septic systems. With this in mind we'd like homeowners to remember we all live in a watershed and all live downstream of someone else so we can be better neighbors by:

• Follow directions on pesticides and herbicides. More is not better and application is safe only when rain is not in the forecast.
• Keep septic systems maintained well.
• Leave an unmowed buffer zone of vegetation between your house and the lake. In addition to the beauty of native plantings, you can also hold your bank in place better than yards mowed to the waterfront. Ultimately, this can help you keep your backyard in place!
• Utilize rain barrels and rain gardens to slow storm runoff from your site. This is another easy way to protect your banks (and lower your watering bills in the summer!)
• If you're performing car or boat maintenance, be sure to keep a clean work area and recycle oils and other recyclables. Remember, rainwater carries many things besides water to our lakes and rivers. Later, we swim, fish and drink that same water!

If you care about our lakes - Laurel, Cumberland, Dale Hollow, Cordell Hull, Caney Fork, Old Hickory, J. Percy Priest, Cheatham or Barkley - join us, won't you in working for water quality through education, individual behavior changes, and volunteering or donating to the Cumberland River Compact's mission!

Cumberland River Basin Clean Marina Guidebook and Checklist
(pdf format)

Links

Corps of Engineers Cumberland River Clean Marina Program http://www.orn.usace.army.mil/CleanMarinas/

West Marine http://www.westmarine.com/

Anchor High Marina http://www.anchorhighmarina.com/

Drakes Creek Marina http://www.drakescreekmarine.com/

Elm Hill Marina http://www.elmhillmarina.com/

Willow Grove Resort and Marina http://www.willowgrove.com/

Kentucky Fishing http://fw.ky.gov/Navigation.asp?cid=101

Kentucky Boating http://fw.ky.gov/Navigation.asp?cid=102

Tennessee Boating http://www.state.tn.us/twra/boatmain.html

Tennessee Fishing http://www.state.tn.us/twra/fish/fishmain.html