LAKE BOTTOM AND SHORELINE SANDING REGULATIONS
The application of sand fill is an option available to riparians. Although sand fill does not control against erosion, it acts as a buffer to protect the original beach from further erosion. The ideal erosion-resistant shoreline is an undisturbed, naturally vegetated, gradually sloping, rock-filled beach (discussed in Shoreline Erosion).
If the sandy beach doesn’t occur naturally, many people will simply truck in a few loads of sand and make one. This is probably the worst thing a homeowner can do from the standpoint of water quality. The sandy slope will attract runoff from a wide area during rainstorms and channel the runoff straight into the lake. Sand beaches do not filter nutrients. Creating a sandy beach will negatively impact water quality.
- Physical Impacts: Lakes act as settling basins for surrounding watersheds, collecting and accumulating materials that drain into them. Over long periods of geologic time, as a lake ages, it gradually fills in with sediment. Any activity that adds material to a lake, in addition to the natural supply will increase the rate of lake filling. The regular addition of sand to a lake or shoreline accelerates this process.
- Chemical Impacts: The mineral composition of sand is not consistent. Clay, if present in the deposited sand, can cause reduced water clarity. If phosphorus is contained in the sand, it may contribute to increased plant growth in the lake. Recent studies have also found beach sand to be a breeding ground for bacteria.
- Biological Impacts: The physical process of filling in a lake with deposited sand has major biological impacts. Dumping sand along the shore of a lake can smother bottom dwelling algae and invertebrates, reduced the amount of available habitat, and may cause a disruption in the food chain of higher organisms including fish. Deposited sand may also destroy spawning or nesting sites for fish.
If your beach is not already sandy, it is most likely that sand fill will erode over time and deposit itself on your neighbor’s beach downwind or disappear into deeper water. Therefore, periodic maintenance with this approach is required. Consider sanding your beach only above the wave run-up line with possibly a narrow fill into the water just wide enough to provide swimmers and little ones access to sandy bottoms farther out from shore. To avoid using sand fill, consider the installation of a short dock where swimmers can walk out past the near-shore rocks before entering the water.
Sand should be clean, as coarse as is possible, inert, and free of vegetative matter. Finer sand erodes more rapidly than coarse sand. Clean, sifted sand is available by the truckload from reputable local excavators at reasonable prices.
Lake bottom alterations and shoreline sanding on Ann Lake are regulated by the State of Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the Benzie County Soil Erosion Division of the Building Department and the Almira Township Zoning Ordinance. A summary of those departments’ regulations follows. This information is current as of 8/14/12.
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ)
MDEQ Water Resources Division in Cadillac handles permitting for placing sand in the water of an inland lake under the provisions for “fill for swim areas “. An application with drawings and photographs and a fee are required.
MDEQ had developed an EZ Guide for beach sanding. Beach sanding is considered a “minor project” and is described in DEQ Minor Project Categories in the State of Michigan. To receive a permit to place sand in the water all of the following criteria must be met:
- not in a wetland
- fill can cover no more than an 800 square foot area
- fill can be a maximum 6 inches in depth and placed in water depth up to 4 feet
- fill area to be no more than one-half the lot width or 40 feet, whichever is smaller
- fill for swim areas to be composed of 50 percent pea stone, the rest sand.
- no similar permit issued for the area in the last 5 years.
Penalty for failure to obtain a permit is a doubling of the permit fee if the project would have been approved or remediation if the project would not have been approved.
No permit is required by MDEQ for placing sand on the shoreline if it is placed above the ordinary high water mark of the lake. Removing “weeds” and woody debris from the lake is also a regulated activity requiring a permit. (DNR officers can also enforce these laws and are good contacts for weekends when violations are in progress.)
Contact persons at MDEQ Cadillac 231-775-3960 or send an email to deq-wrd-district-cadillac@michigan.gov . MDEQ has an online database of permits issued (www.deq.state.mi.us/ciwpis).
Benzie County Soil Erosion
Placing sand on the shoreline is considered “an earth change within 500 feet of a lake or stream” and a permit is required for doing so. Permit issuance is site specific and considers the lot’s individual characteristics and potential for creating shoreline erosion.
Replacement sand for an established permitted beach may be added without a new permit so long as it is not more than 10 cubic yards of sand (approximately one dump truck load), is no more than 6 inches deep and does not go in the water.
Benzie County Soil Erosion ordinance is found at the Benzie County web site. Contact the Benzie County Soil and Erosion Inspector at 231-882-9673.
Almira Township Zoning Ordinance
The Greenbelt section of the Almira Township zoning ordinance allows for “reasonable sanding of beaches where permitted by county, state and federal law.”
Contact Almira Township Zoning Administrator at 231-275-5862 ext 2.
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