 Increase stability while maintaining the natural appearance of your shoreline.
If your shoreline is eroding, any of the following events may be destabilizing your soil, resulting in erosion: fluctuating water levels, increased wave or wake action, ice pushes, loss of natural vegetation, and human activity.
There are affordable, low-impact methods to stabilize your shoreline and still protect property values, water quality, and habitat. Installing riprap on a stream or river bank is a special condition that may require professional advice to ensure that the structure will stand up to the fluctuations in water levels and flowing conditions.
Natural rock riprap consists of coarse stones randomly and loosely placed along the shoreline. You should consult your DNR Area Hydrologist to determine whether your shoreline needs riprap to stop erosion. If there is a demonstrated need, such as on steep slopes, you may want to consider placing riprap or a combination of riprap and vegetation. In most cases, vegetation planted in the rocks will stabilize the riprap and improve the appearance of your shoreline. Naturalizing your shoreline is the most important contribution you can make to enhance water quality, maintain fishery resources, and provide wildlife habitat.
What are some other issues to consider?
A row of boulders at the water's edge is not considered natural rock riprap. Rows of stacked boulders function as a retaining wall, and installation would require an individual permit from the DNR. Retaining walls are very damaging to the near-shore environment. Retaining walls cause wave action that scours the lakebed, displacing bottom sediment and creating an extremely sterile environment. The cumulative effect of numerous wall structures on a lake reduces critical habitat for fish and wildlife resources and much of the food chain they depend on. Retaining walls require structural maintenance and are frequently damaged by ice action and undermined by wave action.
Riprap is not maintenance free and does not eliminate ice heaving, but it is easier to return the rocks to their original positions than to repair a wall. Consider planting within the riprap to add color, interest, and diversity. Live cuttings and plant plugs can be planted within riprap to provide additional slope stability and give your shoreline a more natural appearance.
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