Fisheries and Oceans Canada
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The Shore Primer, Ontario edition
MAKING AMENDS:
WAYS TO RESTORE AN ALTERED SHORELINE
The trouble with the natural shoreline is that there is not as much as there used to be. The extravagant native greenery that once sprawled along the waterfront has been cut down, boxed in, built over, and otherwise shoved aside on many lakes. It has been replaced by the ordered and angular world of docks, grass, beaches, and breakwalls. However, a “developed” shoreline is not a lost cause. Restoring the beauty and integrity of your waterfront need not cost a lot of money or require a lot of labour - after all, working with nature is cheaper and easier than working against it.
Because each stretch of shoreline is distinct, there is no one generic prescription for bringing an altered waterfront back to health. But the following scenarios and suggestions will help you begin to make amends with your shoreline.
BEFORE YOU RESTORE: THE APPROVAL PROCESS
A number of federal, provincial, and municipal laws and regulations influence shoreline work across Canada. Whether you want to restore your shoreline, or build from scratch, check well in advance of your project to see what approvals you may require. Under the federal Fisheries Act, the onus is on property owners to ensure that shoreline work does not harmfully alter, disrupt, or destroy fish habitat without the required authorization from DFO.
The first step is to check whether your project meets the criteria of an Operational Statement - DFO’s guidelines for works around water that pose a low risk to fish habitat. If your shoreline plan meets the conditions laid out in an Operational Statement and you incorporate the measures it advises to protect fish habitat, then your project does not require formal review by DFO. To see if your plans are lake-friendly (or to find out how to make them better), visit the DFO web site at www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/oceans-habitat/. Once there, click on “Operational Statements” (for dock and boathouse construction, beach creation, etc.).
If the Operational Statements do not relate to your project, or they do not apply in Ontario, talk to your local Conservation Authority (CA) or, if you do not have one, the nearest Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) office. For landowners who have property fronting the Rideau Canal, Trent-Severn Waterway, or other federal lands, contact Parks Canada. On regulated waterways, you should also consult with the authority responsible for water levels.
Here is another stop you should make on the approvals journey: If your project is in an area where there are aquatic species at risk, as defined by the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA), get in touch with your local CA, DFO or Parks Canada office to make sure that what you have in mind is in compliance with SARA. A visit to www.sararegistry.gc.ca will help.
If you are in doubt about what process to follow, contact your nearest DFO office. DFO staff can guide you through the approvals process, provide some options, and help you select the best approach for your shoreline, possibly saving you time and money. Projects that involve hard materials such as stone, steel, or concrete are more apt to become tangled in shoreline regulations, but it is a good idea to call the government experts even if you are just mulling over a restoration.
Keep in mind that obtaining approval from one agency does not guarantee that you will get the okay from another. Make sure that you have all necessary approvals before starting work.
How to prepare for your project:
Make a plan for your shoreline-friendly property, including an inventory of existing plants and features, the different waterfront zones your project will involve, and a notion of your final objectives. Find some graph paper (to make it easier to draw to scale) and draw up a map of your property, including buildings and structures, the shoreline, high and low water points, water intakes, vegetation on the land and in the water, wildlife habitat (fish spawning places, areas where ducklings swim), and prevailing winds and currents. This map will come in handy if you discover that you require formal approvals or permits for your project, so make several copies.
Next, note problem areas on your shoreline: places that have been clear-cut, eroding banks, failing breakwalls, ailing docks, and so on. Include high-activity areas, such as the patch of lawn that acts as the badminton or volleyball court, and the pathways to the shoreline. Brainstorm with your family, neighbouring cottagers, and shoreline-care experts to find natural, environmentally friendly solutions.
When you have come up with the best approach, discuss your project with the CA, MNR, Parks Canada or DFO. If you need to make a formal application, be sure to include:
- Your name, address, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address;
- Your water body’s name and location, including lot and concession number, municipality, county or district, and even the latitude and longitude coordinates if you have them (the coordinates are available off a good topographic map or a Global Positioning System receiver);
- A copy of your hand-drawn lot map, signed and dated;
- An outline of your plans, including construction details, schedule, techniques, materials and goals; and
- Photos of the work site and the surrounding shoreline. Photos throughout the seasons (summer, winter, and during spring breakup) may be helpful.
Do your planning the summer before you want to begin the work, and file your applications (where required) in the fall. That way, you will have all of the paperwork taken care of in time for the spring thaw.
What happens if you ignore all of this good advice? Not taking the proper precautions to ensure that your project meets provincial and federal requirements may result in a violation under the Fisheries Act and related legislation. First time offenders under the Fisheries Act can receive a maximum fine of $300,000, and possible jail time for subsequent conviction. As well, the courts often order restoration of the property to its original state.
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RESTORATION #1: LESSENING YOUR LAWN'S IMPACT
How many lawns can you count around your lake? Probably more than you used to, as increasing numbers of people are retiring to live full time at their cottages. While turf has its place, lakes and lawns have a relationship that is uneasy at best, and poisonous at worst. Lawns displace the hard-working native plants that protect the lake, and when a heavy rain comes, they do little to protect the lake from sediment or chemical-laden run-off . According to one study, 90 percent of the rain falling on a natural shoreline is absorbed before reaching the water, while up to 55 percent of the rain falling on hard surfaces, including lawns, flows right into the lake.
All that runoff hastens erosion, sending silt and sediment into the water where it damages spawning and feeding areas. Pesticides and fertilizers lavished on the lawn also play havoc with the aquatic ecosystem. Weed and bug killers may harm fish or destroy the plants and insects that fish feed on, and fertilizers promote algae growth, leading to a greener, murkier lake. A kilogram of phosphorus fertilizer washed off of the lawn and into the lake fuels the growth of 500 kg of aquatic plants, snaring boat propellers and choking shorelines.
If you must have a lawn (over the septic bed, for example), use natural methods to maintain it and avoid chemical fertilizers and weed controls. Try leaving the grass clippings where they fall to mulch and fertilize the sod, but only if the lawn is far enough away from the water that the clippings will not be washed into the lake. Let the grass grow at least seven centimetres long between trimmings to conserve soil moisture. Another option is to let the grass grow all season; knocking it down once a year with a trimmer or scythe will keep trees and shrubs out, while permitting wildflowers to put down roots.
Buffering your lawn from the lake:
Because lawns are the last thing a lake wants beside it, you will be doing the shoreline and yourself a big favour by getting rid of the tidy plot once and for all. But if that is too radical a notion for first-time restorationists, take the next best step: Keep them apart with a buffer zone of natural vegetation to filter contaminants in runoff, provide homes for wildlife, and enhance your cottage privacy. (For more detail on buffer function, see "The Riparian and Upland Zones: The Lake's Buffer").
The deeper a buffer is, the better it works. As a rough rule of thumb, a buffer extending back 30 metres from the top of the bank is sufficient for most coldwater lakes (whose fish suffer more from nutrient runoff), while 15 metres will protect a warmwater lake. The natural area should be even deeper on properties with steep, erosion-prone slopes. The key thing to remember is that any amount of buffer is better than none at all. If 30 metres sounds like too much, consider going au naturel in stages, adding a bit more each year by working back from the shoreline in two-to-three metre strips.
How to Build a Buffer:
The easiest approach to building a buffer, especially for lots with patches of healthy native vegetation or erosion-prone soils, is to stop mowing the lawn. Native grasses, shrubs, and trees will colonize the area, with the wildflowers and grasses moving in during the first year, and shrubs and trees following a year or two later. Troublesome invaders, such as garlic mustard or burdock, can be selectively cut or hand pulled.
Restoring a heavily clear-cut area is a little tougher, but not beyond the skills of anyone who can handle a shovel and a watering can. Start by looking at the foliage covering natural areas of the lake and try to duplicate it on your lot. By planting a mix of native plants and shrubs - willows, dogwoods, joe-pye weed, blue vervain, and elderberry - in the riparian zone, you can protect the soil, buffer the waterfront, and entice birds and other wildlife. In the upland area, you can add species that thrive on well-drained slopes, such as sugar maple, white birch, white pine, and white ash. Avoid pilfering wild plants (unless they are going to be built on or paved over) because you are simply denuding one area to clothe another. Do make sure that the species you purchase are native to your area - consult with the various shoreline experts, local gardening centres, horticultural societies, and naturalists’ clubs.
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A natural area often looks more appealing to the eye if you plan a transition zone between it and the more manicured areas of your property. If you like, consider softening the shift from lawn and gardens to a wilder-looking buffer with a mix of showy native plants, such as black-eyed Susan and bee balm. Adopt flowing, curving borders rather than straight lines to promote this natural aesthetic. Preserve a view of the water through judicious pruning, grouping taller trees to allow sightlines, or building an elevated viewing deck behind the cottage.
Use a meandering trail - angled along the slope, not running straight down to the shoreline - to lead visitors from the cottage to the dock. The path will look more natural and will allow rainwater to infiltrate the soil if it is covered with pea gravel or bark chips.
Another option is a wood walkway, with slats wide enough to let rain and sunlight through. Creative types might also consider adding an elevated walkway or bridge over sensitive areas, built on posts rising 15 - 30 cm above the ground. The bridge protects vegetation and provides cover for ground-hugging woodland creatures such as frogs, toads, snakes, and salamanders. On slopes, it is best to opt for raised wooden stairs built on posts. Cutting into the slope to install steps only encourages erosion. Concrete steps and sidewalks will circumvent your buffer by channelling runoff towards the lake.
RESTORATION #2: SWITCHING TO A SHORELINE FRIENDLY DOCK
Docks are so much a part of lakeside living, you probably see them as extensions of the shoreline. The truth is, ill-designed shoreline structures fragment the habitat that is so critical to lakeside creatures. When the time comes to replace the rickety, old dock you have inherited, select one that suits your purposes but that also does the least harm to the lake. Cottagers can find all that they need to know about shoreline-friendly structures in The Dock Primer, but here are a few key factors to keep in mind:
• Type of dock: A floating dock is among the top fish-friendly choices because it causes the least disturbance to the lake bottom, provides fish cover, rides out fluctuating lake levels, and does not alter water currents. But it is not perfect. Floating docks shade some of the littoral zone, reducing the aquatic life that many fish, insects, and animals depend on. They also pose problems for ducklings. The waterfowl cling to the shoreline as they learn to paddle, and may shun an area where they have to circumnavigate a lot of docks jammed up against the land. You can easily fix this problem by pushing the dock a bit further out and using a gangplank to bridge the short stretch of water between it and the shoreline. This gives mama duck and her brood a marine underpass, while allowing you to access your dock.
Pipe or pile docks may be an equally good option for lakes with more stable water levels. Resting mostly out of water on pipes or posts, both types of dock have a small footprint on the littoral zone. They also provide some structural habitat, and allow more sunlight to penetrate through to the lake bottom. Cantilever, suspension, and lift docks are anchored by their base to the shoreline and overhang the water. They are gentle on the environment, but they are expensive and fairly complex to build. Less preferred are crib docks, usually built on a base of square-cut timbers filled with stones, covering parts of the littoral zone. Last and definitely least, a concrete pier is a disaster in environmental terms, crushing the life in the littoral zone.
• Building materials: The safest option for waterfront construction is untreated wood, such as cedar, fir, hemlock, and tamarack. Plastic wood, if installed properly, offers long life, but may sag between spans or split during installation if you are not careful.
Treated wood is definitely a second choice. Wood preservatives kill the organisms that cause rot, but what destroys fungi can also harm other organisms (including you if you breathe in too much sawdust or get too much preservative on your skin). If you must go this route, buy lumber that is pressure treated at the factory rather than doing it yourself with a paintbrush. Approved wood preservatives most commonly used are alkaline copper quaternary (ACQ) and copper azole (CA). Creosote-treated wood should not be used in or near water. Before you buy, ask your local building supply outlet for more information about environmentally friendly wood products.
• Choose your site carefully: You can reduce the impact of waterfront development by selecting dock or boathouse sites with little or no vegetation, and developing 25 percent or less of your total frontage. If, for example, you own 30 metres of lakefront, pick the three to eight metres where development will do the least harm, and set that section aside for a dock or swimming area. Keep the fish, ducks, and other wildlife happy by leaving the rest in its natural state. DFO’s Operational Statements provide good advice about protecting fish and fish habitat when building a dock or undertaking other shoreline projects; (see "Before You Restore: The Approval Process").
RESTORATION #3:
SOFTENING A HARDENED SHORELINE
Take a look along your waterfront - wherever you see a breakwall, that stretch of shoreline looks almost lifeless. “Hardened” shorelines are like hardened arteries: Left without treatment, they can have serious health consequences.
When a shoreline is bounded by concrete, steel, or stone, the flow of life along the waterfront is constricted. In serious cases, the biological components of the waterfront are removed altogether, as plant habitat is destroyed and fish, birds, and amphibians move on.
Worse still, hardened shorelines are only a temporary fix for an erosion problem usually caused by removing shoreline vegetation. When wave action slams against a vertical wall, the energy is deflected upwards where the wave breaks against the top of the wall, and downwards, where currents scour out the earth at its base. As the ground beneath it washes away, the wall begins to list and break up. Eventually, it topples over.
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If you own a breakwall, there are a few things you can do to reduce the pounding it takes and improve habitat along the shoreline. First, plant a buffer zone (see "Buffering Your Lawn from the Lake"), including a lot of deep-rooted native shrubs, to hold the soil together and prevent gullies from opening up behind the wall. The next step, which requires the approval of government authorities, is to improve the habitat in the littoral zone. Stones piled at a 45-degree angle in front of the wall will add more places for fish to hide and feed, and may trap enough sediment to encourage the growth of aquatic plants. As a bonus, the stones will also absorb much of the force of the waves, extending the life of the wall. “Shore ladders,” made by piling up enough stones to reach from the lake bed to the top of the wall, allow frogs, snakes, and mink to travel back and forth from land to water.
If the breakwall is already falling apart, view it as an opportunity to replace the crumbling eyesore with a new, more natural shoreline. After receiving the appropriate approvals and advice, dig out the bank behind the failing wall to restore a slope of 25 degrees or less, and line it with geotextile filter cloth to keep the soil in place. Ideally, you should remove the breakwall, but if that is not practical, you can pull it back onto the new slope and break the concrete into cobble-sized pieces of rubble. Be sure to add a veneer of appropriately sized stones commonly known as “rip-rap” (usually 15-20 cm in diameter) to cover the filter cloth. Just behind the riprap, plant woody vegetation and shrubs, such as willow, dogwood, sweet gale, Virginia creeper, riverbank grape, and poplar. Eventually, the plants will grow into the spaces between the stones. You will have a shoreline-friendly waterfront that controls erosion and provides wildlife habitat.
Most shorelines can be held together by their natural vegetation. In erosion-prone areas, the existing plants can be augmented by shrub willows. CAs can also explain how to “bio-engineer” a shoreline to resist erosion with a tough and resilient combination of stones, wood, willow, and poplar cuttings.
Finally, if you have a serious erosion problem - particularly if you are on one of the Great Lakes - you will need good advice on protecting your shoreline. Check with your local CA or MNR office and consider weighing your options with a coastal engineer. Well-engineered erosion controls that balance shoreline protection and habitat maintenance will cost more than a do-it-yourself job, but the investment pays off in longevity, peace of mind, and preservation of the waterfront environment.
THE NEW-LOOK WATERFRONT
Depending how developed your lake is with lawns, breakwalls, and the like, a cottager opting for the “natural” look may be viewed by the neighbours with varying degrees of interest, curiosity, and bemusement. As you begin your restoration project, get other lake residents onside by explaining why you are forsaking the lawn in favour of dogwood and black-eyed Susan, and perhaps offering them a copy of this booklet. Explain that you are concerned about the health of the waterfront and that you want to preserve the lake and its inhabitants for your kids - or their kids - to enjoy. On a wider scale, try contacting like-minded lake lovers through the local lake association. Forming an unofficial shoreline support group is a good way to share shoreline restoration information.
Then, having ensured your reputation as a thoughtful, concerned lakeside resident - maybe even a visionary! - you can spend more time relaxing and enjoying your waterfront.
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