THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR RESPONDS

MICHIGAN LAKE & STREAM ASSOCIATION LOOKS TO THE FUTURE

 Michigan’s surface and ground water resources face serious threats from increased consumptive and recreational uses.  Urbanization of the countryside is interrupting the natural recharging of groundwater aquifers, and increasing the potential for flooding and drought at frequent intervals.  The desire for convenience in lake usage and avoidance of shoreline erosion are the reasons given for building seawalls and bulkheads at the shoreline.  The demand for clean drinking water is promoting the bottling of spring water and selling it inside and outside the Great Lakes basin.  The demand for speed, even on lakes less than 25 acres in size, is destroying the fishery of those small lakes. Failure to maintain a “green belt” of shrubs and trees along the shoreline and increasing of impervious surfaces (roads, parking lots, roofs) is resulting in increased lake water temperature, nutrient input, and increased plant growth.  The degradation of water quality of lakes and streams will continue at a rapid pace unless people join forces to halt some of these unwise uses of our water resources. 

Michigan Lake & Stream Associations is a statewide non-profit corporation of Michigan. The management of the affairs of the corporation is vested in a Board of Directors composed of Vice Presidents from each of 15 Regions of the State together with four elected officers and two directors elected at large.  The Regional Vice Presidents are elected by ML&SA member associations in each Region.                                                                                   

  ML&SA  has provided leadership in protecting our water resources during the past 42 years.  That leadership role includes holding a statewide Annual Conference, and Regional lake representative meetings and fall seminars for the purpose of disseminating information about the water resources of the State. ML&SA’s overall goal is to support all efforts of riparian property owners, lake and stream associations, legislative bodies and agencies of local and state government to maintain “swimmable” and “fishable” waters and to prevent the pollution and contamination of groundwater aquifers and supplies.                                                                                             

  ML&SA is sponsoring a number of water quality testing programs, such as measuring water transparency through the use of the Secchi disk.  ML&SA  accepted this program from MDNR by negotiated agreement in 1992.  It has grown to more than 200 lakes  as of 2002. Other sponsored programs include the measurement of phosphorus concentrations, dissolved oxygen, chlorohyll a, and aquatic plant identification and surveys.  These programs require the help of thousands of volunteers that care and give the time and effort to make a difference.  

 Another ML&SA program is that of encouraging high school students to get involved in studying water quality in lakes and streams.  Twenty-five high schools are now enrolled in the lake and stream monitoring programs.  Randy Cook, science teacher at Tri County High School in Montcalm County, is directing the lake monitoring program, and Jeff Kalember, science teacher at Gaylord High School, is directing the stream monitoring program.  Local lake associations are working with the teachers in collecting lake and stream samples from their lakes and streams.

 ML&SA sponsored and developed a Lake Leader’s Institute this past summer.  The Institute was planned and directed by Pearl Bonnell, Director of Operations of ML&SA, together with  Howard Wandell of the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife of Michigan State University. Twenty-two persons completed the 8-day course and were issued a graduation certificate on October 11 at Bengel Wildlife Center, Bath, Michigan.

 ML&SA has produced brochures that deal with water issues and resources.  Among those available for distribution are;

RIPARIAN RIGHTS; WATER QUALITY; TEN WAYS TO SAVE YOUR LAKE; ARE YOU OBSERVING THE 100 FOOT RULE; TOWNSHIP POWERS; WHAT DOES ML&SA DO?; AQUATIC PLANT IDENTIFICATION; AQUATIC NUISANCE SPECIES HANDBOOK;  LAKESIDE LANDSCAPING, and others.

ML&SA provides Internet service for associations that opt to use its web service.  Thirty-three lake associations are currently enrolled in the program.  Other associations that want to get into this program should contact ML&SA’s northern office at Long Lake, Michigan.

 ML&SA will continue to work with member associations to help them be successful in whatever projects they undertake.  ML&SA will provide information on water law and rules and regulations adopted for carrying out such laws.

Membership of your association in ML&SA will provide the opportunity for you to get answers to your questions.  Membership in ML&SA is open to individuals, corporations and associations.  Check on ML&SA’s web site for more information.  www.mlswa.org

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. Question: Can an owner of shoreline along any of the Great Lakes fence his property to keep trespassers off?

. Question: If the shoreline or a lake recedes, and a new shoreline is established leaving 20 to 40 feet of new upland, who owns that exposed bottomland, and how is it determined?

. Question: What do I do if my neighbor places his dock right at the edge of his bottom-land boundary in the water so that his boats tied up to his dock ride in the water above my bottomland?

. Question: What can be done if individuals are violating Michigan water law?

. Question: Does the size and/or depth of a lake have any bearing upon riparian rights?

RETAINING WALLS AT THE WATERS EDGE ON INLAND LAKES

Do Shoreline Seawalls Damage or Improve The Quality of Lakes & Streams?

Applications to Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to establish bulkheads on inland and Great Lakes shorelines approached 1,000 during the first 8 months of this year. If we add another 158 applications for rip rapping the shoreline, the average number figures to be about 4-5 a day on inland lakes. The applications for permits to build retaining walls stands at the top of the list of applications to alter shorelines. Why have we seen so many applications to construct retaining walls during the past decade?

The reason most frequently given is to save shoreline. As one person stated, "I have already lost 10-12 feet of shoreline, and unless I install a retaining wall, I will lose much more." The question that should be asked is, "Is this the best way to prevent shoreline erosion, or do better alternatives exist?

The DNR of the State of Minnesota, in l998, recommended that a retaining wall should be avoided. The article further states that, "Most retaining walls have relatively short life expectancy when built within water’s reach. Fluctuating water levels, pounding waves or expanding ice take their toll on them. Retaining walls deflect wave energy back to the lake instead of diffusing it Retaining walls also create an abrupt line between land and water, destroying transition areas and eliminating critical habitat for many species….Natural landscaping combined with rock riprap can often accomplish a finished look to the shoreline and still retain some of the benefits of a natural shoreline."

Other applications to MDEQ for changing lakes and streams under the INLAND LAKES AND STEAMS ACT, include Boardwalks, Boat Ramps, Buildings, Dams, Docks,

Dredging, Ponds, Roads, Sewer Lines, etc. The total number of applications to the MDEQ under this Act is now averaging between 6-7 thousand per year.

Bulkheads constructed at or upland from the ordinary high water mark of an inland lake do not require a permit from MDEQ. Only when the application is for a permanent structure to be installed between the water’s edge and the ordinary high water mark is a permit required. Applications to MDEQ to build permanent structures below the ordinary high water mark would be practically eliminated if the same policy now in place along the shorelines of the Great Lakes were adopted for inland lakes. Common law now prohibits the individual Great Lakes shoreline property owner from installing a permanent structure on the beach area of the Great Lakes between the ordinary high water mark and the water’s edge. The ordinary high water mark of the Great Lakes was established by Act 247, Public Acts of l955. The ordinary high water mark for Lakes Michigan and Huron is 579.8 feet above sea level.

  Don Winne,  Executive Director, ML&SA 

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