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

Water Quality

Lake Studies & Surveys

• Gravel Lake Limnological Assessment, 2016
• Appendices, 2016
• Progressive’s Gravel Lake Study, 2015
• Limnological and Fishery Survey, 2015

Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS)

• Midwest Aquatic Plant Reference Chart
  Descriptions of invasive and non-invasive plant species in our area.
• The Midwest Invasive Species Information Network (MISIN)
  is a regional effort to develop and provide early detection and response resources for invasive species.

Boat Wash Information

• MLSA – Clean Boats, Clean Waters Info
• CD3 Info Sheet
• Spring Park, Minnesota Case Study

Riparian Rights & Law / Lake Access / Permitting

• Riparian Rights In Michigan
• 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
• EGLE Permits Info

• Info on Short Term Rentals

  PORTER TOWNSHIP VAN BUREN COUNTY, MICHIGAN SHORT TERM RENTAL ORDINANCE ORDINANCE NO. 2022-1
  APPLICATION TO REGISTER SHORT-TERM RENTAL

• 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

Other Reference Locations

• LASA – October 28, 2025 Meeting – Questions and Responses
• Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth – Statewide Search for Subdivision Plats
  (Type in your beach name; Sandy, Chamberlain, Streeter, etc. and choose Van Buren)
• PROTECTING MICHIGAN’S INLAND LAKES: A GUIDE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
  
• Van Buren County Building & Electrical Application Info & Permits
• Van Buren County (detailed property map info)
• Van Buren County Animal Control – (269) 621-4624
• Michigan DNR – plainwell operations service center – (269) 685-6851
• Porter Township– (269) 624-4022
• Michigan Department of Natural Resources
• Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
• Michigan Lake & Streams, Inc.
• Michigan Riparian Magazine

Meeting Schedules:

Porter Township