Kalamazoo, Calhoun, Allegan, Barry, and Van Buren County real estate and homes for sale in Michigan                                                                                     

Riparian Rights and When You Need to Get a Permit Things you can do without a permit: place or spread sand along your shoreline build a seawall at or above the high water mark construct a seasonal dock of 300' or less on your bottom land use water from a lake for domestic purposes construct a minor drainage structure or ditch that does not change the drainage pattern which previously existed. Things you need a permit from the DNR or DEQ to do: place sand on the bottom land of a lake build a seawall below the high water mark or in the water make an earth change within 500' of a lake fill or dredge a wetland construct a dock longer than 300' dig a channel to the upland or connect a pond to a lake construct a permanent dock around the shoreline of a lake construct a building below the high water mark construct a marina