Shoreline restoration, Lovesick and Katchewanooka Lake

Shoreline restoration on Lovesick and Katchewanooka Lake

Eroded banks, failing walls and stone steps on the Trent-Severn lakes between Buckhorn, Burleigh Falls and Lakefield. Send the form and an owner calls you back today.

  • ✓Same-day callback from an owner
  • ✓Conservation authority and Parks Canada permits filed for you
  • ✓River rock, native planting and stone steps, one crew
Get your free shoreline consult
A few quick questions. An owner calls you back today.
Prefer to talk? Call (705) 208-7121
32 reviews, most of them for yards and stone work
Owners on site
One or both owners on site every day of the build
Our own machines
Excavators and skid steers we own, so the base and the stone are one crew's work
Locates before every dig
Ontario Dig Authority locate filed before the machine arrives

Shoreline restoration on Lovesick and Katchewanooka Lake

Shoreline restoration on Lovesick Lake and Katchewanooka Lake is Trent-Severn work from start to finish: Lovesick sits behind Lock 30 and the Burleigh Falls dams, and Katchewanooka runs from Lock 27 at Young's Point down to Lakefield. Lovesick Lake is dotted with islands and Lock 30 itself is reachable only by boat, so on many lots the stone and the machine come in by barge. Parks Canada and Otonabee Conservation both review the work.

Shoreline restoration

Bank washing into the lake, an old wall leaning out, ice shoving the stone around every spring? You get a shoreline rebuilt to hold, in the form the permit offices approve.

  • ✓Eroded banks re-sloped and armoured with river rock on a 3:1 slope
  • ✓Failed timber, concrete and stone walls taken out
  • ✓Native planting and a no-mow buffer that roots the bank
  • ✓Armour stone steps and seating walls up the bank to the water
  • ✓Machine and stone access planned, the site restored when we leave

The permits, handled

On the Kawartha lakes most shoreline jobs need two approvals, and the calendar matters as much as the paperwork. You sign; we prepare and file.

  • ✓Your survey checked for a City shoreline road allowance
  • ✓Pre-consultation and permit with Kawartha Conservation or Otonabee Conservation
  • ✓Parks Canada in-water and shoreline works application on Trent-Severn lakes
  • ✓The build timed to the fish-spawning window
  • ✓Every approval in hand before a machine touches the bank

We run our own excavators and skid steers, so the grading, the stone and the planting are one crew's work, with an owner on site every day.

We design to what the conservation authority and Parks Canada approve. If what you picture is a vertical armour stone wall at the waterline, you hear at the first visit what gets permitted instead, before you spend a dollar on drawings.

Shorelines on Lovesick and Katchewanooka Lake: what the permits allow

Who signs off

Parks Canada permits all work on, under and over the bed and waters of Trent-Severn lakes, shoreline stabilization included, and its jurisdiction runs to the original upper controlled water level. On land, Otonabee Conservation regulates the shoreline under Ontario Regulation 41/24, and in Selwyn's lakeshore constraint area its letter or permit comes before any building permit. The Township's permit package also notes the Ministry of Natural Resources does not allow concrete to be placed in the water, for new work or old.

What gets approved

Otonabee Conservation's guidance favours bioengineering: river rock, tree trunks, coir logs, brush mats and live stakes cut from dogwood and willow, matched to the site. It cautions that sloped rock and stone walls are temporary answers that can push erosion along the shore toward a neighbour. So we rebuild a bank with mixed rock and deep-rooted planting, and keep armour stone for steps and seating set back up the slope.

The calendar

Water on Lovesick is set by structures. Wooden dams at Burleigh Falls, later rebuilt in concrete, raised the water and flooded islands upstream, and a series of dams at Lock 30 still regulates the creeks entering the lake. Parks Canada permits run one year, with fish spawning windows inside it, and where walleye and bass are present in-water work stays out of March 15 to July 15. We file over the winter and build after mid-July.

Communities we cover from here

Lovesick LakeKatchewanooka LakeClear LakeLower Buckhorn LakeYoung's PointLakefieldBurleigh FallsKawartha ParkYoungstownYoung's CoveDeer BayBuckhorn

How shoreline restoration on Lovesick and Katchewanooka Lake works, in four steps

1
Tell us about your waterfront
Send the form or call. An owner calls you back the same business day.
2
An owner walks the shoreline
We measure the frontage, photograph the bank, check your survey for a shoreline road allowance, and work out how machines and stone get in.
3
We file the permits
Pre-consultation with the conservation authority, then the applications to it and to Parks Canada with the site plan and photos they ask for.
4
Build in the open window
Stone, grading and planting when the fish window allows, then a walk-through and your written warranty.

Stone work we have built

Armour stone wall and steps built by Thor Construction
Armour stone going in on a Thor Construction job
Flagstone path and armour stone by Thor Construction

What our customers say

★★★★★

“Thor Construction company did some hardscaping for us in our backyard around the pool. Right from the start they were responsive, they worked with us on a design that was functional for the space and stayed within the agreed budget. Their work was fabulous!”

D 1072
Pool surround, hardscaping · Google review
★★★★★

“Thor construction company did a great job on my landscaping for my new home, great design idea for my garden and driveway and walkway plus patio thanks for the great job, we highly recommend them”

Jeremy Thorsen
New home, full landscaping · Google review
★★★★★

“Can't say enough about Thor Construction Company. They transformed my backyard space into a perfect little getaway; can't wait to host this summer! They were professional, hardworking bunch and I would recommend you chose this company for your backyard or landscaping needs...big or small!”

Matthew Tynkaluk
Backyard rebuild · Google review

Shoreline restoration on Lovesick and Katchewanooka Lake: your questions answered

My cottage is on an island in Lovesick Lake. Can you still do the work?

Yes, with more planning. Lock 30 itself sits on an island reachable only by water, and many lots around it are the same. We plan barge access for the stone and the machine at the site visit, and put it in the written price.

Who issues the permits on Katchewanooka Lake?

Parks Canada for anything on the lake bed or at the water, because Katchewanooka is on the Trent-Severn between Lock 27 and Lakefield. Otonabee Conservation covers its regulated area on land, and the Township of Selwyn handles any building permit.

Can I pour a concrete wall at the water?

No. Selwyn's permit package notes the Ministry of Natural Resources does not allow concrete placed in the water, and Otonabee Conservation steers owners toward natural, bioengineered shorelines. We design with rock and planting instead.

Do I need a permit to fix my shoreline?

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.

Can I put an armour stone wall at the water's edge?

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.

When can the work happen?

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.

How long do the permits take?

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.

Can you take out an old wall?

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.

How is a shoreline priced?

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.

Other areas and services

Every page has the local permit office, the ground and the rules for that area.

Ready to get your shoreline permitted, Lovesick and Katchewanooka Lake?

Send the form and an owner calls you back today. Or call now and talk to the person who will dig the job.

Get your free shoreline consult
A few quick questions. An owner calls you back today.
Prefer to talk? Call (705) 208-7121
Thor Construction Company
Bobcaygeon, Ontario · Serving Central Ontario, north of the GTA
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