Shoreline restoration on Gull Lake and the Minden lakes

Usually two offices. The County of Haliburton for the 20 metre shoreline area under its Shoreline Preservation By-law, and the Ministry of Natural Resources for work below the high-water mark under the Public Lands Act. We confirm which apply at the site visit and file the applications.

Between the fish windows. On lake trout water, in-water work is closed from October 1 to May 31, and bass add a closure from May 1 to July 15 where they are present. Work above the waterline follows its own schedule once the County permit is in.

Not always. A shore road allowance is a 20 metre strip measured from the water's edge, and unless a past owner bought it, the Township owns it. We check your survey before drawing anything, so the steps and stone sit on land you own.

On the Kawartha lakes, almost always two. Parks Canada permits all work on the bed and waters of the Trent-Severn lakes, including shoreline stabilization, and the conservation authority permits work in its regulated area along the shore. We prepare and file both.

Kawartha Conservation's published guidance steers away from hardened shorelines, meaning retaining walls, sheet piles and armour stone at the water's edge. What it recommends is river rock in mixed sizes on a 3:1 slope along the natural contour, native plants and a no-mow buffer. We design to that, and put armour stone where it earns its place: steps, seating walls and terraces up the bank.

On lakes that hold walleye and bass, which is most of the Kawarthas, Fisheries and Oceans Canada's timing window keeps in-water work off-limits from March 15 to July 15 while fish spawn. Parks Canada permits are valid for one year, so we file in fall or winter and schedule the build for the open window.

Kawartha Conservation publishes its timelines: a streamlined permit is checked for completeness in 10 days and issued within 14 more, a standard minor permit in 14 plus 21 days. Parks Canada asks for applications several months before the start date. That is why fall is the time to start.

Yes. Removing a failed timber, concrete or stone wall is shoreline work too, so it goes through the same permits, and the bank is re-sloped and planted where the wall stood.

By the length of frontage, the slope, how machines and stone get to the water, and what the permits require. You get a written price after the site visit, with the permit work priced in the same quote.