White Lake Harbor dredging: comments on the state’s water certificate run through Dec. 4

MUSKEGON — The state is taking public comments through 5 p.m. Dec. 4 on a plan for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the federal channel at White Lake Harbor and put the sand on the beach.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy said it is proposing a water-quality certificate under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act. The Corps cannot do the work unless EGLE grants the certificate or waives it. EGLE can attach conditions. It can also deny the certificate, which would stop the federal permit.

The notice, posted Nov. 4, says the dredging is routine maintenance of the navigation channel. The certificate is meant to show the dredging and the beach placement will meet Michigan’s water-quality rules. Comments go to Annaliese Marks in the Water Resources Division, at MarksA2@Michigan.gov or 517-897-0116, or by mail to EGLE, Water Resources Division, P.O. Box 30458, Lansing, MI 48909-7958.

What the draft would allow

A draft certificate dated against an Aug. 19, 2026, Corps request says the dredging must stay inside the federal channel shown on the project figure. Beach placement would be limited to two stretches: starting 1,000 feet south of the southern breakwater and running 9,000 feet south, and starting 1,000 feet north of the northern breakwater and running 9,300 feet north, between the ordinary high-water mark and the 8-foot depth contour.

Open-water dumping of the sediment is not allowed under the draft. The Grand Rapids district supervisor at EGLE must be told 48 hours before dredging starts. Dredging dates have to follow the Department of Natural Resources’ preferred windows for fish, unless the Corps gets a written change from DNR fisheries staff. The draft says this certificate would replace earlier ones for the harbor and would run about five years after it is signed. The signature lines are still blank, dated “December 2026.”

Why the channel is on a cycle

An Army Corps fact sheet for White Lake Harbor describes a recreational harbor on Lake Michigan, authorized in stages from 1867 to 1907, with a project depth of 16 feet that is maintained at 12 feet. It says about 2,000 feet of federal channel and more than 3,600 feet of piers are kept up, and that dredged sand is used as beach nourishment. The sheet says about 9,000 cubic yards has to come out on a five-year cycle and that the harbor was last dredged in 2019.

That fact sheet is older than this week’s notice. It is useful for the size of the channel, not for the 2026 certificate. The comment deadline and the beach limits come from the November EGLE pages, not from the fact sheet.

What commenters can still change

The certificate is still a proposal. The draft’s “XX” dates are a tell that it has not been signed. People who use the channel, the beaches north and south of the piers, or the fishery have until Dec. 4 to write Marks. After a signature, the Corps still has to follow the conditions, including the fish window and the ban on open-water disposal.

The photograph is the channel, not a dredge. It does not show the 9,000-foot beach reaches in the draft.

Sources:
EGLE public notice, “Public comment period for proposed dredging in White Lake Harbor, Muskegon County,” Nov. 4, 2026 (comment deadline, contact, Section 401, beach nourishment purpose), https://www.michigan.gov/egle/outreach/public-notice-calendar/2026/11/04/public-comment-period-for-proposed-dredging-in-white-lake-harbor
EGLE draft Section 401 certificate for White Lake Harbor (channel limit, beach placement distances, no open-water disposal, 48-hour notice, fisheries window), https://www.michigan.gov/egle/outreach/public-notice-calendar/2026/11/04/-/media/919CD8894C0A428FA47E90157B08402E.ashx
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, White Lake Harbor fact sheet (channel length, last dredged 2019, five-year cycle, 9,000 cubic yards), https://lre-ops.usace.army.mil/OandM/factsheets/White_LakeHarbor.pdf
Photo: ckay from Caledonia, United States, “White Lake Channel (213316453).jpg”, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AWhite_Lake_Channel_%28213316453%29.jpg

Muskegon

Tags: Muskegon · White Lake · Dredging · EGLE · Army Corps