PORTAGE | Just a year ago, people could walk down the concrete handicapped-accessible ramp at Portage Lakefront and Riverwalkto an expanse of beach.
If they took the same walk today, they'd drop off onto rock and into Lake Michigan's waters. The National Park Service has closed the ramp for safety concerns.
High lake levels and recent storms have eaten away at Lake Michigan's shoreline in recent months.
The evidence of rising lake levels isn't only affecting Portage Lakefront. Two access ways at the IDNL's Lakeview picnic area in Beverly Shores were closed earlier this year after a storm smacked the area.
Central Avenue beach and its parking lot was shut down Friday by the National Lakeshore, citing erosion from large waves earlier in the week taking out what little sand was left at the beach. That resulted in an 8-foot drop-off from the access path down to a mix of clay and asphalt chunks from an old road bed.
And peeking westward from Portage Lakefront, waves are now striking the walls built years ago to protect homes at adjacent Ogden Dunes. Until just recently, even the eastern most home had yards of beach between it and Lake Michigan's edge.
According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Detroit District, Lake Michigan's level is up 3 inches from a month ago and 11 inches from last year. And it is still rising.
It predicts the levels will continue to rise, at least for the foreseeable future.
Part of that may be the lake's natural cycle. Add to it in recent years large snowfalls that have melted into the lake, higher than average precipitation and cooler summers limiting normal evaporation rates.
How high lake levels will rise is anyone's guess. In July 1986, the lake level was 26 inches above the present level.
Erosion in the area between the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk running westward through Ogden Dunes is exacerbated because of the Port of Indiana and the Burns Waterway small boat harbor. Both block the lateral flow of sand along the shoreline from east to west, starving the shoreline to the west of the structures.
Lou Gagliardi, who lives in the easternmost home along the lake in Ogden Dunes, said water is more than 4 feet deep in front of his northern most wall, which was constructed by the state more than two decades ago.
Waves crest over that wall, he said, landing in his yard. He said he's concerned that the rising lake levels and future storms will erode the bottom of the wall, causing it to collapse.
Residents of Ogden Dunes have applied for permits to install stone in front of the walls for additional protection. Gagliardi cannot apply for a permit, as the property in front of his home is owned by the National Park Service.
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Superintendent Paul Labovitz said the National Park Service is not in favor of the plan to armor the beach and is appealing a permit issued by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
"That would transfer the problem to their neighbors. The problem was caused by a structure (Port of Indiana and breakwall) and more structure causes more problems," Labovitz said.
Officials agree the solution to the erosion problems along the lakeshore is beach nourishment, the dumping of sand on or near the beach to replenish what has been washed away.
Roy Deda, deputy for project management in the Army Corps Chicago District office, said his agency has authorization and the budget to drop about $800,000 worth of sand down shore from the Michigan City lakefront, which will nourish the beach in front of Mount Baldy.
However, they don't have the same authorization or appropriation to do a similar project along the Portage Lakefront shoreline. Deda said they completed a preliminary study of the Burns Waterway small boat harbor in 2010, but have been unable to continue with a feasibility study.
Deda said the Army Corps does have the authorization to dredge the Burns Waterway and dump the material off shore of Portage and Ogden Dunes. He said there is interest in placing the material on the beach itself, but a partner would have to be secured to make up the cost difference between the two locations.
Labovitz agrees nourishment is the solution, but said it could cost $500,000 to $1 million a year to properly replace the sand and, with current conditions, there is no promise the 75,000 to 80,000 cubic yards of sand needed to maintain the beach would last a week, let alone a year.
"I have been in contact with the USACE and the NPS as well as Portage Mayor James Snyder to discuss options to remedy the beach erosion resulting from extreme weather conditions experienced last fall," U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Merrillville, said in a statement.
"I regret the situation is not yet been resolved, but all stakeholders with an interest in the lakeshore are working to identify options that are cost-effective and long term," he said.
A meeting has been set for Aug. 5 involving all the stakeholders, including the Army Corps, Portage, IDNL, Ogden Dunes and others to discuss the issue and work toward a remedy.