LEISURE

Aquatic nuisance species often travel by hitchhiking with the help of unsuspecting people. Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers—follow these simple steps at every lake and river, every time.

Before leaving any body of water, please do the following:

• CLEAN: Inspect all equipment for anything attached (plants, animals, mud) and remove anything that is found.
• DRAIN: Drain all water from equipment (engines, livewells, bilges, bait buckets, before using at a different location. Dump live bait on dry land or at bait disposal sites, not into the lake or stream. Never move live fish between bodies of water or up streams.
• DRY: All equipment for at least 5 days before using it again. If you need to use it sooner, wash it with hot (120-degree) water (retail car washes are OK).

Go to ProtectKSWaters.org for complete information.

• Keep your car in tip-top shape. The oil spots you see on driveways, highways and parking lots has to go somewhere. When your oil leaks, it gets sent down storm drains and ends up in the watershed.
• Don’t throw out the hot water you’ve been carrying around in your backpack or water bottle all day. Find a place where the water can be put to good use: the base of a tree, a vegetable garden or even a birdbath.

• Turn bathroom water taps off properly. If a tap is leaking, report it to the hotel staff immediately.
• Most hotels give you the option of not having your towels washed every day. The amount of water this saves is immense.

• Clean up all of the plastic wrappers from lures and bait after fishing.
• In fact, be careful not to leave behind any litter. It all ends up somewhere and frequently this means in our lakes and rivers.
• Volunteer for a river or lake cleanup day project. It’s not as fun as relaxing at the lake, but when it’s time for your annual fishing trip, you’ll be glad to have done your part in keeping the water clean.
• When boating along shorelines, slow down. The wakes that boats create severely erode riverbanks and shores.