Frequently Asked Questions

A seawall on a canal can be reinforced by adding rip rap to the canal floor and leaning it up against the seawall. If the seawall has washouts at the top, those can be filled with stone and fill dirt and grass placed on top. If your seawall is leaning, cracked, or compromised, it should be replaced.

Rip rap is the most effective and immediate form of erosion control, but if you want something more natural-looking you should consider imported fill dirt or shell. Adding in some littoral plants makes the system look more natural.

It depends on the codes, covenants, and rules within your HOA bylaws. In most cases, the HOA is responsible for restoring lost shoreline and/or stabilizing your shoreline to prevent further erosion. This is advantageous in that it prevents each homeowner from installing their own system which creates an ugly, heterogenous shoreline. Ask your Board President who is responsible and if they tell you that you are as the homeowner, ask them to provide a copy of the bylaws.

Those are likely geotubes which are an outdated and ineffective way to prevent erosion. They should be removed and a proper system put in place as soon as possible.

Yes, many of our clients hire us to work in phases to help with budgeting. Most communities split up the work over 2-3 years. We strongly suggest having entire lakes done at a time, as opposed to repairing only sections of lakes. For additional information on this, please contact us.

There are four entities that can tell you if you are in compliance:

• Us
• South Florida Water Management District
• A civil engineer
• An environmental consultant

An escarpment (drop-off at the top of your shoreline) that is out of compliance:

• is a liability issue as it can cause injury or death
• may compromise the stability of homeowners’ property (pool deck, sidewalk, foundation, etc.)
• may lead to a letter of non-compliance from the State which will force you to fix it and could lead to fines or other penalties

Yes, we offer a lifetime warranty on workmanship on our hardened systems and a 1-year warranty on littoral plants that we install. Some exceptions apply.

• Any rock or shell that we install should require little to no maintenance for the most part.
• If we install our proprietary organic blend, it may need to be refreshed every 5-7 years or after a major storm or rain event.
• Our littoral plants require little to no maintenance themselves, but your lake maintenance company will need to spray exotics around them which could incur an additional cost of a few hundred dollars or so per quarter.

It depends on where you live. Some counties only allow one system to be installed without having to get a variance (which can take up to 3 years). Other counties allow you to do anything with a simple permit. Regarding what is best for your lake, we recommend a larger rock where you have the most wave action and erosion and smaller aggregates or shell in the other areas. A civil engineer can make recommendations and can also reach out to your county zoning department to find out what they allow. Or you can call us to get some preliminary options over the phone.

In Collier County we can install any of our systems without any permit whatsoever. In all other counties there is usually a Limited Development Order (LDO) required which takes about 2-4 months. In unincorporated Lee County you will likely need a Dock and Shoreline Permit, an LDO, and a Variance.

It depends on how many lakes you have and how much your water levels fluctuate. If there are multiple lakes that are interconnected, we can de-water each lake to bring the water level down and get the work done any time of year. If there is just one lake and we can’t de-water, we typically can only get the work done November through June. If the lake is fed by an underground well, or has very little fluctuation in water levels from wet to dry season, we typically have to do the work January through May (dry season).

• Organic Shoreline SystemTM typically lasts about 5-10 years
• Hybrid Shell System TM, Pat Pend typically lasts about 7-15 years
• Erosion Defense System TM typically lasts about 15-25 years

Usually if all three systems are maintained (refreshed) every few years their overall efficacy spans decades.

There are three basic types: rill, splash, and sheet erosion.

1. Rill erosion occurs when runoff water forms small channels as it concentrates down a slope
2. Splash erosion results from the bombardment of the soil surface by rain drops. Rain drops behave as little bombs when falling on exposed or bare soil, displacing soil particles and destroying soil structure.
3. Sheet erosion is the even erosion of substrate along a wide area. Water moving fairly uniformly with a similar thickness over a surface is called sheet flow, and is the cause of sheet erosion.

Civil engineers and Marine Civil Engineers are sometimes needed during an erosion control or shoreline stabilization project if the project involves:

• Structures or structural stability requirements
• Compaction specifications and/or testing
• A Dock and Shoreline Permit from Lee County
• A variance. This is typically needed when you are materially changing the shape of your lake’s shoreline, altering the volume of water that the lake holds, or doing something drastically different than what your original Development Order allowed.

We can recommend a couple of engineers in your area. Please contact us.

If you are concerned with erosion behind your home or business, make a Board member aware of it and tell them there is a company that specializes in fixing it. If you can get together with a Board member, maybe call us and ask to speak with our General Manager or Owner on speaker to discuss.

Erosion is pernicious. A lake, river, or creek will gradually take your property over time which means you are slowly losing real estate into the adjacent body of water. It can also cause dangerous conditions where a person or pet can fall off the drop-off into the lake, causing injury or death. Lastly, if it is not addressed, it can lead to compliance and legal problems with the county or city you live in.

We need to know which lakes you are concerned with, whether or not you are working with an engineer, who the decision-makers are, and what your time-frame is. We can take it from there!