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Dunes advocacy group wants to stop Lake Michigan town from building erosion barrier

By Rebecca Thiele

Posted June 23, 2023

This hundred foot walkway at Portage Lakefront & Riverwalk in Indiana Dunes National Park was built to help people with disabilities enjoy the lakeside view. Due to erosion and the inability to get replenished with sand, it sunk in 2018. (FILE PHOTO: Tyler Lake)

The Town of Ogden Dunes recently got permission from the state Natural Resources Commission to build a stone barrier to protect homes along Lake Michigan from erosion. Now the group Save the Dunes is challenging that decision.

The Indiana Supreme Court affirmed that the public has a right to use Lake Michigan’s shoreline from the water up to where the high-water mark usually hits the beach. That’s part of where the barrier would be placed in Ogden Dunes, said Save the Dunes Executive Director Betsy Maher.

“So that significantly impacts not just current but future generations’ ability to recreate in those spaces specifically," she said.

Placing things like sea walls along the shoreline can lead to more erosion for communities nearby because it blocks the flow of sand. Maher said that can lead to even more sea walls — which reduces the number of natural beaches in the state. She said putting hardening structures in the water can also destroy habitat for aquatic life.

READ MORE: Erosion lawsuit questions how we should protect the Lake Michigan shoreline.

“I think that there is more to do to make sure that the public understands that this is their right to access the beach and that things like hardening the shoreline are not in their best interest," Maher said.

But Scott Kingan, town council president of Ogden Dunes said the town has little choice. In a statement, he said for decades Ogden Dunes' beaches have been starved of sand because of human made structures blocking its flow east of town. And he said Ogden Dunes can't afford to haul in the more than 190,000 cubic yards of sand needed per year.

Join the conversation and sign up for the Indiana Two-Way. Text "Indiana" to 73224. Your comments and questions in response to our weekly text help us find the answers you need on statewide issues.

"This is not a simple matter of letting nature take its course nor does the town have a feasible alternative solution," Kingan said. "Instead, it is protecting the shoreline, beach, and environment as well as homes, infrastructure, and the safety of its residents."

This isn't the first dispute over lake barriers at Ogden Dunes. According to court records, the town is still in a lawsuit against the National Park Service over repairing their sea walls near Indiana Dunes National Park.

Rebecca is our energy and environment reporter. Contact her at rthiele@iu.edu or follow her on Twitter at @beckythiele.

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