Creating vegetated islands using onsite dredge materials to restore aquatic habitat for this award-winning project

Wolf Lake Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration

Over time, Wolf Lake, straddling Indiana and Illinois, had been negatively impacted by decades of development including infilling, industrial discharges, transportation runoff, and encroachment by invasive plant species. To restore the lake’s ecology and support recreational opportunities, the City of Hammond with support of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sought our expertise in ecological restoration.

To help restore the aquatic and wetland habitat, we created more than 30 vegetated sand islands using silt and sand dredged from the lake bottom. More than 125,000 native plants and shrubs were planted on these islands to help stabilize them and provide fish and waterfowl habitats. The scope of work also included the installation of logs to serve as wave barrier structures for the most impacted islands and help further mitigate water and wind erosion impacts.

We also provided ongoing invasive species maintenance and monitoring services of the entire restored area. The Wolf Lake restoration project was awarded a Conservation and Native Landscaping Award by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Chicago Wilderness.