Shoreline Protection

There is no single prescription for Pine Lake shorelines. Our challenges are as unique as our properties. There are some basic principles that are helpful for all:

• The single best practice for homeowners to protect both sides of their shoreline is plant a native buffer zone, the wider the better. The plants as a combination of trees, shrubs, perennials and sedges slow absorption of runoff and phytoremediate pollutants such as heavy metals, nitrate and phosphorus. Native plants have deeper roots than non-native/ornamental plants. Trees especially stabilize soils. Native plants maintain the food web, which many non-native/ornamentals do not. If natives are changed too much from the original as to leaf color, bloom size and color may be rejected by insects, birds and pollinators in general. Tree canopy can reduce the terminal velocity of rain by 60% so under plantings and tree roots can absorb it.

  
  

  

  
  

  

  Note how shallow-rooted traditional turf grass (far left) is compared to prairie plants. This is why the lawn-to-lake and lawn-to-rip-rap scenario performs so poorly at holding back excess nutrients and pollutants.

  
  

• Erosional forces on your shoreline come from both sides. From the water side, wave action is generated by wind or boat waves. Wind wave energy depends on wind speed, duration and fetch (the distance the wind crosses the lake to your shore). The longer the fetch to your shore the greater the wind wave action, as those of you on lee shores know well. Boat wakes and wake amplification can vary greatly depending on boat size, water displacement and weight. Wake decay is a function of distance from your shore and the shape/depth of the bottom: a gradual incline, sharp dropoff, shelf etc. Ice action from the water side can be truly powerful and can scour and re-arrange parts of the shore. From the land side the major erosional force is overland stormwater flow which moves sediments, soil, excess nutrients and heavy metals into the lake sediment.

  
  

• Protection against erosion can take many forms. Rip rap is not an automatic answer for every property. Natural and buffered planted shorelines can defend successfully against wind waves, boat waves, and ice action in the right locations of the lake. Get to know the shoreline in the four seasons. If rip rap is required, remember it does nothing to prevent the flow of excess nutrients and pollutants into the lake. It heats up the water immediately at the edge, changing the fauna that will live there. It can lead to shore scour downwind. Vegetate your rip rap either above or into it.

  
  

• Pine Lake with its depth is characterized as a gravel seepage lake capable of supporting cold water fish species. Per the DNR these are walleye, northern pike, smallmouth and largemouth bass, black crappies and sunfish. Pine Lake is considered to be one of the highest quality walleye fisheries in Waukesha County. Historically speaking, Pine Lake supported a healthy population of cisco, a deep- and cold-water species. Recent gill netting surveys revealed cisco were present in low abundance. The presence of good fish habitat in many ways reflects good lake health. There are many contributors:

  • Natural shorelines, especially those with overhanging vegetation maintain the cooler temperatures for diverse fish species.

  • Native aquatic plant species provide shelter and shade for spawning fish. Get to know our “good” lake weeds - don’t pull or treat them.

  • Woody habitat like natural tree falls, fish stick projects, and fish structures create natural fish cribs, encourage basking and provide cover  for fish spawn. DNR grants are available for formal fish stick projects by homeowners or lake associations and will require a permit.

  • The greatest threats to fish habitat are developed shoreline, increasing water temperatures from climate change, rip rap, and pollutants flushing over imperious surfaces and into the lake. All three factors can change the presence and type of lake aquatic species.