Town of Ogden Dunes Starts Construction of Stone Revetment Wall Despite Project’s Legal Questions

Last week the Town of Ogden Dunes began construction of a stone revetment wall despite an ongoing legal challenge with Save the Dunes over whether the project violates the public trust. Upon learning that the Town was moving forward with the project, Save the Dunes’ attorneys at Conservation Law Center filed for an emergency stay (pause) on all construction. The administrative judge agreed with Save the Dunes that an immediate halt on all construction was necessary to prevent harm until a hearing takes place.

Save the Dunes filed an administrative appeal in 2023 with the Indiana Natural Resources Commission to challenge a permit approval issued to the Town of Ogden Dunes by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) allowing the Town to build a 2,970-foot-long armor stone revetment (“Phase 2”). Ogden Dunes is located along Lake Michigan’s shoreline in Porter County and shares boarders with the Indiana Dunes National Park to both the east and west.

In 2019, the Town installed a half-mile revetment (“Phase 1”) under an emergency authorization. Now this entire stretch of beach is impassable for walking along the shoreline. The proposed “Phase 2” revetment threatens to permanently restrict even more beach access.

Save the Dunes advocates for the protection of the Indiana dunes and Lake Michigan and has worked closely with the Conservation Law Center to defend the dunes from shoreline development that infringes upon the public beaches of Indiana. Save the Dunes appealed the Town’s DNR permit because they failed to evaluate the impacts to the Public Trust Doctrine when granting the Town’s permit. The Public Trust Doctrine is a state law dating back to the state’s founding. The doctrine dictates that Lake Michigan’s shoreline exists for the public’s benefit and cannot be privately owned or used.

This diagram shows how the Natural Ordinary High Water Mark (OHWM) determines land ownership

Save the Dunes has defended this doctrine and continues to represent the public’s right in court when needed to keep Indiana’s beaches accessible to all. Save the Dunes does not have a problem with shoreline homeowners protecting their homes, but believes that all those protective actions should be taken on private property and not encroach onto Indiana’s publicly protected beaches. Save the Dunes heard about the recent construction project from concerned residents who received a 3-week beach closure notification that was sent by the Town of Ogden Dunes on April 1st . When asked by Save the Dunes, the town confirmed they were moving forward with building the planned “Phase 2” revetment. The Town has said all construction will be above the public beach boundary, however images from the permit application and recent photographs show stakes marking that boundary well below the understood public boundary called the Natural Ordinary High Water Mark (OHWM).

Last year during mediations, Save the Dunes offered to stay their appeal and work with the Town of Ogden Dunes to identify alternative solutions that would both protect the beaches and Town structures near the lakefront. The Town dismissed the offer and instead chose to move forward with the costly legal battle and plans for their “Phase 2” revetment. Save the Dunes supports beach nourishment as an alternative to further hardening the shoreline. Beach nourishment is a process of manually adding sand to the beach which protects shoreline structures such as homes, preserves public access, and protects natural resources such as the adjacent Indiana Dunes National Park. Many of the most iconic beaches in the country, such as Miami beach, use ongoing beach nourishment to maintain their beaches.

When the Port of Indiana was built in the late 1960’s it created a 100% sand blockage along Indiana’s shoreline which has since caused the loss of 200 feet of beach along the Indiana Dunes National Park’s Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk and the neighboring Town of Ogden Dunes. The state and federal governments that approved the construction of the Port of Indiana are responsible for addressing the sand blockage, yet they have taken over half a century to provide the necessary funding for studies that would identify and implement a long-term solution. Other areas of the Indiana lakeshore such as Crescent Dune in Michigan City receive ongoing beach nourishment due to the sand blockage caused from the Michigan City Harbor.

Save the Dunes has been advocating with other environmental organizations for passage of state and federal funds to complete a federal study to address the sand blockage caused by the Port of Indiana. Instead of working with Save the Dunes on short- and long-term beach nourishment solutions, the Town has doubled down on their revetment plan and moved forward with construction despite the central legal questions that must still be resolved. Hardened structures such as seawalls, jetties, and revetments restrict public access along the lakeshore. These human-made structures also impede the natural accretion of sand, leading to erosion farther and farther down the beach. Seawalls and revetments can also cause scouring, or the erosion of the lakebed itself, as the wave energy is deflected off the hard surfaces back into the lake.

Town of Ogden Dunes Starts Construction of Stone Revetment Wall Despite Project’s Legal Questions

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