Links and Reference
Welcome to our links and reference section. Please let us know if there are any additions or revisions you’d like to see.
Boating Rules
Gravel Lake
- Boat traffic goes counter-clockwise.
- Channel entrance etiquette: please wait on lake side for exiting boats from channel.
- Observe the “Slow, No Wake” signs in the channel and weed bed.
- Do not allow anyone to ride the front of pontoon boat.
- Be aware of the ski course on the northwest side of the lake (to avoid unnecessary anchor line entanglements).
- Waterskiing (and other towed sports) is limited to an hour before sunrise and an hour after sunset.
- PWCs may operate between 8am and sunset.
- Improper distance: operating above slow, no wake speed at anything less than 100ft (of other vessels, including persons being towed, rafts, docks, shoreline).
- Improper distance for a PWC: operating above slow no wake speed at anything less than 150ft.
- No one less than 14 years of age may operate a PWC.
- Anyone at least 16 years old and born after 12/31/1978 may operate a PWC with a boating safety certificate.
- Anyone born before 12/31/1978 may operate a PWC without restrictions.
- Every person being towed behind a boat on water skis, etc. must wear a type 1, 2, or 3 PFD (this includes surfing without a rope behind a boat).
- Michigan law requires anyone under the age of 6 to wear a type 1 or type 2 PFD when riding on the deck of a boat while underway (type 1 and type 2 pfds have a neck support flap on the back).
- A person shall not launch or transport watercraft unless they are free of aquatic organisms including plants.
Handbook of Michigan Boating Laws and Responsibilities
Surveys and Studies
- Gravel Lake Limnological Assessment, 2016
- Appendices, 2016
- Progressive’s Gravel Lake Study, 2015
- Limnological and Fishery Survey, 2015
Boat Wash
General Information
- Riparian Rights In Michigan
- Midwest Aquatic Plant Reference Chart
Descriptions of invasive and non-invasive plant species in our area.Michigan Water Resources Information and Forms - Michigan Water Resources Information and Forms
- The Midwest Invasive Species Information Network (MISIN)
is a regional effort to develop and provide early detection and response resources for invasive species. - PROTECTING MICHIGAN’S INLAND LAKES: A GUIDE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
- Boater Safety – Michigan Boating Safety Handbook
VHS (Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia) virus info from the DNR - Boater Safety – Michigan Boating Safety Handbook
- Boater Safety – Michigan Boating Safety Handbook
- Van Buren County Building & Electrical Application Info & Permits
- Van Buren County (detailed property map info)
- Van Buren County Animal Control – (269) 621-4624
- Boat Safety Class Info – (269) 657-2006 ext. 271
- Michigan DNR – plainwell operations service center – (269) 685-6851
- Michigan DEQ – 800-662-9278 or email
- Porter Township– (269) 624-4022
- State of Michigan
- Michigan Public Act 188
- Michigan Department of Natural Resources
- Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
- Michigan Fish Advisory
- Michigan Lake & Streams, Inc.
- Michigan Riparian Magazine
- Michigan Waterfront Alliance
- Weather Information
- Aerial Graphics
Roadends, Easements and Public Access
In response to some questions and discussion around mooring one’s boat on another’s bottomlands, here is some recent information.
While a short overview is provided below, we encourage you to read the more detailed information provided in the 2 links below.
- In Michigan, riparians (i.e. owners of property directly adjacent to a body of water) typically own the bottomlands of an inland lake to its center (though not the water or fish above them).
- One may not permanently moor (anchor) a boat or place a dock on another owner’s bottomlands.
- Exception is given to temporary mooring that aids in navigation (e.g. fishing) but does not give the right to anchor indefinitely.
- Floating, without mooring, above another’s bottomlands is not prohibited on a public lake.
- https://mymlsa.org/government-and-legal-issues/riparian-rights-in-michigan/
- https://mymlsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2018-Winter-Boat-Mooring.pdf
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- Midwest Aquatic Plant Reference Chart
Descriptions of invasive and non-invasive plant species in our area. - Riparian Rights and Waterfront Legal Issues – PDF Archives
- Gravel Lake License Agreement/North and South Drive
From Harold Schuitmaker – Attorney for Porter Township - New Road End Law
As Passed by Michigan Senate, January 19, 2012 - Position paper of the Michigan Lake & Stream Association, Inc. (ML&SA) Regarding proposed public road ends at lakes legislation
(September 7, 2005) - Article from The Michigan Riparian, November, 1998
- Legal Issues an Attorney Writes – Articles by Cliff Bloom
- Pro-Riparian Michigan Appellate Court Cases Regarding Lake Access Easements
- Porter Township Ordinance Number 30 – Riparian Waterfront Lot use Regulations Keyhole or Funnel Waterfront Access
- Riparian Rights in Michigan
- Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth – Statewide Search for Subdivision Plats
(Type in your beach name; Sandy, Chamberlain, Streeter, etc. and choose Van Buren) - Property Maps including locations of Gravel Lake easements, roadends and parks.(Click on “Property Assessment” under “Land Ownership”. Users will have to familiarize themselves with the zooming tools.)
Sewers and Septic Systems
- “Lake residents appear happy with sewer project”
South Bend Tribune, September, 2002 - Sewer Project Funding Options
Michigan Public Act 188 - “Farmland and septic tanks undoing decades of Great Lakes cleanup”
Tom Spears, The Ottawa Citizen, Sunday, November 16, 2003 - “Household Septic Systems”
Wrightman & Associates, Inc. - “Granholm announces effort to protect Michigan water”
The Holland Online Local Sentinel, Wednesday, January 21, 2004 - “Managing Your Septic System”
Michigan State University Extension, Revised September, 2002 - “Sewers for Lake Communities
What are the Needs, Benefits, Dangers, Organizational Requirements, and Costs? – The Diamond Lake Experience”The Michigan Riparian - “Public Sewers for Lake Communities – Part 1
“The Michigan Riparian, February, 1996