Natural indicators of healthy lakes

By Mark H. Stowers

The song of the American bullfrog echoes across a muggy, Michigan summer night. The flight of the dragonfly across gentle splashing waves and the annual mayfly swarm fills the afternoon gentle breeze. The dance of otters, the laziness of turtles sunning themselves as the ever so majestic loons dive for their dinner and sing their songs to gather their mates. The sight of Sisco swimming deep and multiplying to every fisherman’s delight combined with the sights of toads and mudpuppies all point to one thing – a healthy lake environment. These natural indicators give us a report card of how Michigan lakes, streams and rivers are progressing health wise. The lack of any of these pieces of the ecological sheet music can lead to an out of tune and less majestic and sometimes dying water body.

With the help of biologists, researchers, educators and more from federal, state and county leadership, the music of Michigan lakes, streams and rivers are fine-tuned and adjusted to man-made and natural imbalances and threats. Erick Elgin, a Limnologist and Water Resources Educator with Michigan State University Extension, has responsibilities to promote and research the wise use, protection and restoration of Michigan freshwater systems. As part of the ecological orchestra, Elgin chimed in about what a healthy lake may or may not be.

“It's tough. to define a healthy lake because healthy is sometimes in the eye of the beholder,” Elgin explained. “If you are on a shallow lake and there's aquatic plants, found throughout the lake basin in the middle of the lake and on the sides of the lake, some people might say something's wrong with the lake but in fact shallow lakes naturally have a lot of aquatic plants.”

Lakes vary so Elgin and his cohorts and partners look at a number of parameters to understand how a lake is doing through time.

“That’s the big key. We would like to see data through time. Some lakes naturally have more algae and if it kind of stays that amount of algae through time, then the lake is likely stable and it's just a lake that has more algae. But now, what if you see that 20 years ago this lake had low amounts of algae and now have lots of algae some of those algae are turning into harmful algal blooms that contain toxins. Now we would say, ‘Well, wow, your lake is changing and it's changed pretty quick. Something is happening. You might have pollution sources or something's unbalanced in the system.”

He explained the “pulse of the lake” is taken by a Secchi Disc test that measures water clarity. The disc is placed in the lake water and it submerges till it can’t be seen.

“Is it the same year after year or is it getting more clear or less clear? But just because your lake is getting clearer doesn't mean your lake is healthier either. If zebra mussels invade your lake, it can become more clear but that's not necessarily a good thing because now the zebra mussels are removing the algae, which is the base of the food web. On the other hand, if you have worked through time to reduce your phosphorus – a key nutrient for algae growth – or reduced pollution into the lake and now, as a result, there's less algae, so your water clarity is more clear, that's a good thing because you are reducing the nutrient pollution that's entering into the water body.”

With 10,000 lakes in Michigan, Elgin and the organizations that run the gamut from watersheds to extension and more, there still aren’t enough people and time to sample, test and check every lake. The Cooperative Lakes Monitoring Program (CLMP) has tested lakes since 1974 and uses a volunteer staff for most of its work.

“We have data on the lake that volunteers collect through time using the same protocols. And so now we can compare, or we can look at lakes through time comparing apples to apples. And now we can see what direction a lake may be heading. Some lakes are just very stable and let's say the phosphorus changes slightly each year but in general, if we put a trend line through it, it might be completely flat. In some circumstances, there's becoming more phosphorus, or in some circumstances, less. I'm helping folks with a reliable scientific framework to collect that data and understand it. I also help with lake conservation statewide. As lake communities have questions or run into issues or want to improve their conditions, I can work with them on a variety of platforms. We're also working with the state of Michigan on aquatic plant surveys around the state. Aquatic plants can tell us a lot as well. There are a handful of invasive species but by far the vast majority of aquatic plants are native and are beneficial to our water bodies. And so we're creating a protocol that can tell us more about this aquatic plant community.”

A deeper dive into each indicator explains their reasons to exist to create the needed harmony across Michigan lakes, streams and rivers.

Michigan’s American Bullfrog, Northern Leopard Frog and various toad species, are sensitive to water quality and habitat disturbance. Their permeable skin puts them at risk to pollutants and other water hazards. A healthy population of these amphibians indicates good water quality, a stable ecosystem and diverse habitats (wetlands, ponds, shallow shores). A decline in these species can indicate pollution, habitat degradation or the presence of invasive species. Alexa Warwick is a faculty member in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Michigan State University and also has an Extension Appointment. The Iowa native and University of Northern Iowa alum has a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Florida State University, in addition to her B.S., Biology and B.A. in Dual Languages: Portuguese/Spanish. Warwick has spent plenty of time studying Michigan frogs and their benefits as a natural indicator.

“I run a number of monitoring programs here in the state, especially through our Michigan State University properties, like the Corey Marsh Ecological Research Center,” Warwick said. “We do a lot of monitoring of all different kinds of reptiles and amphibians, sometimes using just frog loggers and things. So we're not out there checking them, but they'll call and we can ID them. So it's always a good way to tell if you've got frogs around, because they'll let if it's a good spot for breeding, then you'll hear male frogs calling.”

The courting call is normally heard in warmer weather but she noted the “spring peepers” won’t be quite as near lakes and streams as much as more of a wooded little pool like the wooded swamp areas. Cricket frogs would be the ones you'd hear on ponds and lakes soonest they're a little more rare but and then the northern leopard frogs and the toads and then green frogs and then pickerel frogs and then bullfrogs would be the last ones to start calling.

Frogs are susceptible to changes in lakes as their skin is quite permeable. Even their eggs are susceptible due to not having an amniote (protective membrane) around them to safeguard them from pollutants and other dangers.

“That's part of what the issue is for amphibians, both when they're in their baby, their larval form and often in the adult form too, depending on how they use the water bodies. Amphibians get a double whammy. When they're little, if they're exposed to chemicals, they can get gross defects. When a lot of run-off from agricultural areas and the pesticides and things that were being used would accumulate in certain water bodies, then you might see funky form frogs from that process. But having any amphibians typically is a good indication that the water body is not too overly polluted and doesn't have a lot of excessive nutrients or sediments or contaminants.”

Yu Man Lee, a conservation scientist and herpetologist with MSU Extension’s Michigan Natural Features Inventory explained that consistent water levels are key for amphibians.

“Maintaining the right hydrology so the right water levels in these areas help species use the vegetation along the edge of the lakes and that are submerged for cover and for food. They use some of these areas to survive the winters. In making sure we protect the different habitats that they use and making sure that where you have a diverse and healthy ecosystem, you're going to have all the different species that make up the food chain within these ecosystems.”

Warwick explained when rare species are found, that’s an even better indicator of good health for a wetland area and water body.

The Blanchard’s Cricket frog, that will be found in ponds and lakes. “It’s just really cool if that one does pop up because we don't have too many of those around normally. The more common things would be green frogs and bullfrogs. They're bigger, so they can withstand a little bit more. Even predation from fish in some of those habitats. Of those larger-bodied frogs, the Pickerel frogs are probably the most sensitive. You will not find them if it's any kind of polluted water body but they're much more of a rare species compared to a green frog or a bullfrog in those places.”

Frogs have to stay wet in order to survive and that puts them more at risk to pollutants and other dangers in water. She also noted there’s one simple way to protect frogs and toads – don’t pick them up.

“If you do pick up a frog or toad, make sure you don’t have bug spray or lotions on your hands. Even the oil from your skin can be rough on them and dry them out and something like bug spray can be very damaging to them,” Warwick said.

The biggest benefit of toads is for mosquito control as they can consume up to 3,200 insects per day. Frogs are also a benefit in this area as they eat mosquito larvae. As tadpoles, they eat algae and are part of the function as the base of the food web.

Among the indicators of a healthy environment are the dragonfly nymphs, which are aquatic and require clean water for proper development. Their presence, especially in their larval form in the lake, signals good water quality and healthy aquatic habitats. Dragonflies also help control mosquito populations. A decrease in dragonfly populations may suggest water pollution or disturbances in aquatic vegetation. Warwick has studied dragonflies and noted their larvae are quite brutal in their survival.

“They look like some sort of terrifying monster, in my opinion, as larvae in the water column. They have this sort of spoon-like feature that they stab at things and eat them. They're a carnivorous insect in the water,” she said.

Warwick also explained, “a healthy ecosystem consists of all of the prey items. You can have other predators and then the bigger predators, and on and on. If you don't maintain the basics in the water system, then you're not going to have all these other things that are going to be able to eat those as well.”

Mayflies, as aggravating as they are when hatching and swarming, are also an indicator of a healthy lake. Katri Studtmann, freshwater specialist for Oakland County Parks and Recreation, has studied the favorite fish treat.

“They're one species we look for in particular. Because if you have a high diversity of different mayfly species, it indicates that the water quality is high enough to support those species. There's a lot of different species, a lot of different families. They'll differ in different lake habitats you'll find some only in streams,” Studtmann said. “Everybody gets disrupted and hates every year the big Mayfly infestation but that's actually a huge indicator that things are going well. They are actually a really important food source for animals and birds and amphibians that live around those lake ecosystems.”

She noted the normal pressure of every other indicator in the lake – too many nutrients, too much algae – affect them. She also explained that light pollution hurts the population.

“Those adults are attracted to polarized light, so if your lights are on around your lake, you're going to draw in those insects to your light,” she said. “Instead of them actually going through their life cycle and laying their eggs back in the water.”

She advised for those living or spending time on lakes to use red lights or other longer wavelength lights if lights are needed on the shoreline.

Then there are the lichens which you will find n trees, rocks and water plants. They are sensitive to air and water quality, particularly the levels of pollutants such as nitrogen and sulfur. In a healthy lake ecosystem, lichens thrive because the air and water quality are high. Fewer or unhealthy lichen populations could indicate air pollution or poor water quality.

The presence of North American river otters, top predators in aquatic ecosystems, suggests a balanced ecosystem with good fish populations and clean water. Otters are sensitive to pollution and habitat disturbance. If otters are absent, it could signal poor water quality, pollution or a lack of food sources like fish. River otters are rarely found in Oakland County but would be a good indicator of a healthy lake.

Among the other indicators are Siscowet (Sisco) are deep-water fish found in colder, cleaner lakes. A healthy population of siscowet indicates a stable, clean lake environment with sufficient oxygen levels, deep, cold water and a balanced food web. A decline in siscowet populations could be due to warming water temperatures, overfishing or pollution. Joe Nohner, adjunct assistant professor with the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, works with the development of an inland lake Sisco management plan with the DNR.

“That's a species that is a really strong indicator of water quality,” Nohner said. “They're what we call a flagship species or umbrella species. If you benefit Sisco, you benefit a lot of other species. Sisco live in deep, clear, cold, well-oxygenated lakes. And so they're indicators of some of the highest water quality in the state. Of the state's waters, we probably have about 160 inland lake Sisco populations right now and we've got somewhere around 10,000 lakes. Sisco are really threatened by nutrient pollution and climate change. Those are the two biggest threats to their populations.”

Glacial processes endowed Oakland County with a lot of deep lakes.

“There are a pretty substantial number of Oakland County Sisco lakes, despite the fact that it's a heavily developed area. With Sisco, a lot of what we're doing is trying to help folks implement more natural shoreline processing programs and practices on their shorelines. That means not mowing down to the edge of the lawn, not using fertilizer on the lawn, not having seawalls, all the things that we want to have reduced erosion, reduced runoff coming into the lake from shorelines. And so we've done a lot of work through DNR and through EGLE in a group of people. We've called the Natural Shoreline Partnership to try to move that forward. So there's a whole culture ad collaboration of folks in Michigan State Extension and EGLE and DNR, private contractors and lake associations.”

Jeremy Hartsock, wetland/aquatic ecologist and outreach educator in the Institute of Water Research and Department of Fisheries and Wildlife has studied spawning habits of Sisco and found Sisco need a healthy supply of Chara macro algae to lay their eggs.

“They lay their eggs in the shallows in winter or early spring and then they go back down deep. But when you lose the habitat and the Chara goes away, then they don't have their preferred spots to do what they do,” Hartsock said. “If you want a good Sisco lake, you want it to be cold, deep, with oxygen down in the deep layer. When you lose oxygen, those deep layers become hypoxic. And then that forces the Sisco to come up to the surface where it's warmer. And that stresses them out in the summertime.”

Federal and state protected freshwater mussels are also filter feeders and play a crucial role in maintaining water quality. A diverse population of native mussels suggests clean, unpolluted water with stable sediment conditions. Mussels are highly sensitive to changes in water chemistry, such as excess nutrients, pollutants or sedimentation. A drop in mussel populations often signals pollution, poor water quality or invasive species disrupting their environment.

Studtmann, who also works with bioindicators such as marcrointroverts, mussels and fish, said, “There's a pretty strong correlation on whatever macroinvertebrates you find in the water will indicate how good, how well the lake is doing. We sample for them in the summertime, between June and September, and we have a lot of data that shows that the lake is doing really well. We have a standardized process to take them back to the office and we identify them. Then run stats on what we found to tell us how big a diversity there is, what species are found or not and based on what we can find we can get a good indication of how that aquatic system is doing.”

She noted one of their biggest threats is to native mussels are the invasive zebra and quagga mussels.

“Freshwater mussels are definitely something we want and all freshwater mussels in Michigan are federally protected. You can’t harvest them and you are not supposed to move them. If you find them, Fish and Wildlife Service really like to know about it as well as the DNR.”

When looking for indicators, don’t forget mudpuppies which are aquatic salamanders that live in clean, oxygen-rich waters. A healthy population of mudpuppies indicates that the lake is free from significant pollutants, with plenty of submerged structures like rocks and logs where they can live. A decline in mudpuppy numbers may suggest poor water quality, habitat loss or pollution. Warwick also studies mudpuppies in her MSU education work.

“They are such an unusual creature given how funny they look. Kind of like an eel type creature but they're definitely affected by pollutants so it is a good indicator species if you're having them,” Warwick said.

“They will eat snails and snails can spread swimmer's itch,” she said. “They'll eat any small aquatic animal, crayfish, snails, insect larvae. They're another good indicator because they're there all the time as a larval stage and as an adult stage. They are pretty common in good quality habitats.”

Turtle species that serve as indicators in Michigan include the spiny soft-shell turtle, snapping turtles and the most common painted turtles. Each one in a water body is a good sign of a healthy environment.

“The soft-shell turtle is sensitive to pollution. If you're seeing soft-shell turtles around, that's a good sign in terms of the condition of the water. Snapping turtles are also fairly common,” Warwick explained.

But painted turtles are more common and are “somewhat tolerant of pollution. Just by finding painted turtles, it's not necessarily super indicative of a healthy water system. They're a little more of a trash turtle, I'd guess. They'll live in suburban areas, urban areas a lot more readily than a lot of other species.”

A diverse and healthy aquatic plant community, including submerged plants, emergent plants (like cattails) and floating plants, is a good indicator of a balanced lake ecosystem. Healthy plant life helps stabilize sediment, provides food and shelter for aquatic creatures and maintains oxygen levels. An overgrowth of algae (eutrophication) or a sudden loss of plant life may indicate nutrient pollution, invasive species or changes in water temperature. Excessive algae blooms or invasive plants like Eurasian watermilfoil can disrupt the natural plant balance.

In Hartsock’s work with inland lakes across the state, he surveys quite a bit of lake water vegetation.

“We sample the aquatic plant communities with different goals in mind but basically, we do it to evaluate what is the baseline plant community in the lakes across the state. What we find is some communities are really good with native communities and then some are not so good and it can be that either they're not so good from a standpoint of their there's a lot of invasive species that are dominant or the other hand is there they might not be very good because the lakes just can't support plants anymore. One of the reasons in Oakland County why a lot of water bodies there are degraded and you'll probably see this is it's the shoreline disturbance. Everyone in Oakland County wants to build a large home with a big grassy lawn and put up a sea wall and it's the loss of shoreline that is the problem with lake health for the bodies over there.”

The presence of invasive species such as zebra mussels, Eurasian watermilfoil and invasive fish can disrupt the lake's natural balance and affect many of these indicators. Pollution from urban runoff, agricultural runoff or sewage can cause water quality issues, impacting species like frogs, toads and mussels. Habitat destruction due to shoreline development or recreational activity (boating, fishing, etc.) can harm populations of otters, frogs and aquatic plants.

A healthy lake in Oakland County would support a diverse range of species, each contributing to the overall ecosystem health. Monitoring these natural indicators can provide valuable insights into the lake's environmental quality and help detect potential issues before they become severe.

Melissa Sano, senior herpetologist, wetland ecologist and owner of Herpetological Resource and Management (HRM) relies on her biology, geography and environmental studies degree, master’s in environmental science and biology and several certifications to help educate the public about natural indicators of a healthy lake environment.

“Amphibians and reptiles (collectively regionally known as herpetofauna) are critical bioindicators of environmental health,” Sano explained. “Their ecological importance includes occupying mid-level positions in food webs as both predator and prey. Their presence and abundance are valuable tools for accessing overall ecosystem health. And their presence and abundance are valuable tools for accessing overall ecosystem health.”

She noted that Herpetofauna “are among the most imperiled vertebrates globally, making their protection and habitat conservation increasingly important.”

The HRM’s mission is to minimize environmental impacts and to mitigate damages while providing scientifically supported recommendations for natural resource management such as ecosystem mapping and habitat assessment, environmental review and desktop analysis, Endangered Species Act consultation, wildlife clearance/rescue relocation, inventories monitoring, conservation and restoration, Herpathon (citizen science initiatives), Herpetological services, headstarting and repatriation and training and stewardship. HRM has helped inventory, monitor, conserve and manage rare Michigan species, including Blanchard’s Cricket Frogs, Pickerel Frogs, Fowler’s Toads, Small-mouthed Salamanders, Spotted Turtles, Blanding’s Turtles, Wood Turtles, Eastern Box Turtles, Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnakes, Butler’s Garter Snakes, Queen Snakes, and Eastern Fox Snakes.

The state has fish stocking programs and other wildlife programs to help keep numbers up but for reptiles and amphibians, these programs are non-existent. HRM does help with headstarting and reparation programs that help protect vulnerable life stages of species, increase juvenile survival rates by protecting eggs onsite, collecting eggs and release hatchlings, raise young for a period of time before release. Headstarting and reparation has been used to help turtle populations.

A healthy lake environment is actually more about prevention than maintenance or lake treatments. Keeping pollutants out is the first step and the priority in lake health. Sano noted that property owners and anyone who enjoys spending time on Michigan waterways should “learn about local wildlife and their habitats, reduce pollution in your area, support conservation groups, implement best management practices in your community and contribute to the Michigan Herp Atlas -- a collaborative partnership involving private citizen scientists, consultants, non-governmental organizations, municipal/county agencies, state agencies and federal agencies.

Cleyo Harris, a fisheries technician for the DNR Fisheries Division in the Lake Erie Management Unit, called upon a 2006 study regarding the effects of seawalls and other hard shoreline protection on lake’s ecosystems.

“Once we get above 25 percent of a developed shoreline, pretty much armored, we start to see habitat degradation and some impacts for the ecosystem as a whole. We do know that it does have some impacts on early life history for some of our fish species. Northern pike need wetlands in vegetated areas for spawning. And so when we have a lot more development, we have a lot less of that. And sometimes there are scenarios where we can see that where a lake's very highly developed and there's really not a lot of good spawning areas for a species like Northern pike. So they don't persist in the lake. Even though the rest of the lake environment is suitable for adults, we just don't get a lot of natural reproduction.”

With a master's degree in conservation biology from Central Michigan University, Eric Calabro, inland lakes policy analyst at EGLE, has been teaching and preaching the benefits and best practices of shoreline development. In the past century, development on lakes across the state has brought more tourists and lake property owners to once pristine and undisturbed waters. But development has put pressure on each ecosystem. Sea walls and concrete and more substantial shore structures have disturbed the serenity of lakes but Calabro has been working on ways to create a compromise of sorts for man and nature to co-exist on water bodies.

“EGLE is huge, and there's many different aspects to lake management and lake water quality. The program that I work in is our wetlands, lakes, and streams program. Our program implements the statutes on our water bodies around Michigan that regulate construction-based activities,” Calabro explained. “Any kind of dredging, filling, structures on bottom land, in wetlands, lakes, streams, Great Lakes, floodplains – wherever land meets water around the state, our program does the permitting and compliance for.”

Calabro works with the centralized unit in Lansing and is the inland lake statewide specialist.

“A large part of my job is providing support to all of our nine districts around the state, and my job is providing support to all of those district permitting staff on inland lake issues,” he said.

He noted there are three levels of permits depending on the scope of work. To determine what type of permit is needed, a pre-application meeting can be made with EGLE to sort it all out.

“Before you even apply, fill out this short form online and EGLE will come out to your site, talk with the homeowner directly and key out any potential problems,” Calabro explained. “Any red flags that we see early on will hopefully save everybody time and money throughout the permitting process. I'd strongly recommend the pre-application meeting for anybody who's interested in some sort of shoreline project.”

There are exempt projects such as seasonal docks for private, non-commercial use that doesn’t interfere with lake traffic and water flow. The general permit and minor project category for expedited permits “where if you can design your project to meet the criteria of the category, it's a lot cheaper and there's no public notice so it's a lot faster of a permit and a lot of projects fall into this category.”

The third level – the individual permit category– is mostly for larger projects that don’t fit the minor project category. These include a 20-day public notice period and a $500 permit fee.

Calabro notes that EGLE’s main priority is to work with property owners to find a balance of what they want to do with their property and what will not harm the lake, wetland or water body.

“Property owners can't just do what they want because there is a whole ecosystem we've got to pay attention to and look after,” he said. “We're not wanting to stop development or stop people from doing what they want but we need to look at if somebody wants shoreline protection, for example, and say they want a seawall we ask questions such as, ‘how about you move more towards a nature-based approach that would be healthier for a lake opposed to this vertical wall?’”

The pre-application process helps determine from both sides what options are available and what options haven’t been thought about that can improve the property from both sides of the ecological spectrum. The negative impacts of some tried and true methods have been found to do more harm than good.

With vertical sea walls reflecting wave energy, there is more erosion and degrading water quality that also doesn’t provide habitat. More eco-friendly designs and creations are available that will provide a natural compromise for man and nature.

“You could achieve that same project purpose of protecting your shoreline and protecting your property using a softer approach, using native plants and biodegradable materials,” Calabro said. “There's been a lot of demonstrated impacts statewide on the negative effects hardened shorelines have had across the state. And we know that there's less impactful alternatives available.”

EGLE has created demonstration projects over the past two decades that show a softer approach can be effective in protecting shorelines and improving habitats – thus leading to a healthier lake. Statewide shoreline development trends and technologies now have nature-based solutions being applied in higher energy environments much more successfully due to the designs evolving over time, according to Calabro.

Before development came to lakes and other water bodies, there was plenty of natural shoreline protection from storm run-off and pollution but as more homes, businesses and buildings surrounded lakes, that protection weakened and lakes suffered. With more pollution including excess phosphorous run off from yards and businesses, this caused good and bad algae and other aquatic plants to grow creating toxic problems and actually depleting oxygen and killing off those indicators that show a healthy lake or water body.

“These types of changes can impact the functions and values of the lake. They can impact water quality. They can impact habitat. They can impact fisheries. What we try to stress to folks is that it's really important to avoid and minimize impacts at the property scale,” Calabro said. “All these homes didn't go in at once. It happened little by little by little over the last 80 some years. And it's also important to think cumulatively while designing projects.”

He also noted the “on more developed lakes like we see in Oakland County with sea walls that have been historically there for decades before our statutes have even gone into place. And folks like to have a clean lakefront with grass right to the water’s edge. Oftentimes they clear out all the in-lake vegetation. They remove woody structure and any other hazards or perceived hazards that, may be on their lakefront to ‘clean it up.’ But these different habitat features, shoreline vegetation, the vegetated buffer zone above the water's edge, woody structures – they're all valuable in terms of providing habitat for the animals that live there and the fish. They also are intercepting any sediment or nutrient runoff that may enter the lake. This is one of the things that we really try and encourage folks to do. Maintain a vegetated uncut buffer zone above the water's edge to try and maintain the water's edge to provide water quality and habitat benefits.”

There's different ways of protecting a shoreline that don't involve concrete or steel or involve hardening of a shoreline. Calabro, in his educational program, shows attendees some basic designs using a coconut fiber log that protects the toe of a slope while allowing native plants to grow and establish. While the log naturally disintegrates, more shoreline is actually created by the plants providing more natural habitat and creating a natural barrier to keep harmful run off from entering the lake.

“For a higher energy environment for bigger lakes that have wake boats and other recreational vehicles such as the developed lakes around Oakland County, we need a little beefier protection than just the core log,” he said. “We construct a lower slow revetment but we make a few changes to that revetment. Typical revetments have geotextile fabric underneath and if they're going to be constructed in a way to inhibit the flow of the water and plant growth. But we try to encourage folks to construct these in a way to promote plant growth because what will end up happening is you get the plants creeping out across it as waves wash in, it carries in sediment that infiltrate into these rock spaces. And after seven to 10 years, you won't even know that there was a rock revetment here at all. It gets sedimented in and then you’ve gained property because the plants ended up being out onto the property and shoreline was restored.”

Elgin also offered, “When landscaping your property, have a balanced approach where you are maintaining aesthetics, maintaining recreational access but you're also balancing that with more of a functional landscape where you maintain some trees and shrubs and other plants that maintain habitat, that also slow down erosion, and maybe even nutrient inputs. Utilize native Michigan plants. If you are a low property and your property typically is wet, you want species that can grow in more moist, wet conditions, whereas let's say you're on a bluff and it's much more dry, you could grow plants that can handle more dry conditions.”

Calabro noted that EGLE and other organizations work with the Michigan Natural Shoreline Partnership to educate and offer ideas and solutions. Membership in the MNSP includes universities, private companies, state agencies and a variety of property owners.

The soundtrack of a healthy lake – croaking bullfrogs and buzzing dragonflies, along with a backdrop of clear, cold water brimming with tasty fish – surrounded by a protected shoreline that combines man made amenities blended with Mother Nature’s vegetation.