¥14.1% of watershed land area in 2003 ¥Down from 21.3% in 1965
Agricultural land has a
many detrimental effects on lake and water quality. The addition of
fertilizers increases nutrients running off the land. Secondly,these areas have low vegetative
cover and areas absorb less water and provide less structure to soil
strata.Erosion is higher in
these land use types, and nutrient additions to the receiving body of water
are higher as a result
The 7.2% decline in
agricultural land is a small change within the entire watershed, but is over
one third of the total agricultural area in 1965.This change over the 38 years has the ability to have
both positive and negative effects on lake quality depending on relative
location within the watershed.While there was a significant mix of positive and negative land use
changes throughout the watershed, land use change along the shoreline of the
lake was slightly more beneficial than detrimental to lake quality.