Keep Lake Beautiful offers tips to protect our waterways

LEESBURG — Keep Lake Beautiful recently partnered with the Lake and Sumter Realtors group during their annual Clean Up Florida Water Ways month.

The local arm of Keep America Beautiful, a national nonprofit with a focus on empowering citizens to help improve and beautify their communities, hosted the event to create awareness on stormwater drains by placing markers reminding people that “only rain down the storm drain.”

“We are focusing on blue, green and clean because we want to keep the lakes blue and clean,” Keep Lake Beautiful facilitator Veronica Dau said. “With this great group of volunteers, we are helping remind people to do their part.”

Nutrient impairment of water bodies and springs has become a major concern throughout Florida. Excess nutrients change the ecological balance of a waterbody and cause water quality issues including persistent algae blooms.