Boat Docks & Piers on Saline Lake
Piers and walkways that reach past bald cypress and buttonbush to water a boat can use, built for a lake that drops eight feet.
Lakes We Serve · LA
Boat docks, seawalls and slips on Saline Lake.
Saline is a Section 10 waterbody. Any work over, in or under this lake needs Corps of Engineers authorization before a shovel touches the bottom — and the summer drawdown is when that work actually gets done.
Permitting
Section 10 comes first. Everything else follows it.
And you are not on your own with the paperwork — the lake commission and the parish police jury help owners with the application.
Because Saline Lake is a Section 10 waterbody, any work over, in or under the lake requires permit authorization from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Regulatory Office before construction starts. Dredging or filling in an adjoining wetland or stream is a separate authorization again — worth knowing before a project quietly grows past the waterline.
The lake authority is the Saline Lake Game and Fish Preserve Commission: seven members, four appointed by the Winn Parish Police Jury and three by the Natchitoches Parish Police Jury, operating under Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries oversight. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development operates the spillway gates. The commission and the police jury have publicly offered to help shoreline owners with the permit application, which makes the process here more navigable than the phrase "federal permit" suggests.
Shoreline property owners are a formally recognized stakeholder group on this lake — several pump lake water for lawn and garden irrigation — so owner concerns are heard rather than ignored. That does not shorten the permit; it does mean the people running the lake expect to hear from you.
The Drawdown
Eight feet of exposed bank — and the most argued-about subject on the lake.
Pool stage is 103.0 feet MSL, and the structure can pull the lake down a full eight feet at about four inches a day.
1
The window
Drawdowns typically open in early summer and the gates close around the first of October. At the bottom of one, only about 2,500 to 3,000 acres of water remain — and Mulligan Inn is the main ramp that stays usable when the lake is down.
2
What it is for
The parish and the lake commission have pointed shoreline owners to drawdown periods as the window to repair boat docks, seawalls and boat slips. That is an unusually direct invitation, and it is the cheapest time to do this work.
3
Why planning ahead matters
A Section 10 authorization takes time, and the drawdown does not wait for it. Starting the permitting well before the gates open is what turns a low-water summer into a finished seawall instead of a missed year.
Questions We Hear
Saline Lake FAQ.
Do I really need a federal permit for a boat dock here?
Saline Lake is a Section 10 waterbody, so any work over, in or under the lake requires authorization from the Corps of Engineers Regulatory Office before the work begins. Dredging or filling in an adjoining wetland or stream needs separate authorization. The lake commission and the parish police jury will help with the application.
When should I schedule a seawall or slip repair?
Around the drawdown. The commission and the parish have pointed owners to those periods as the window for repairing docks, seawalls and slips — the lake can come down a full eight feet at about four inches a day, and gates typically close near the first of October.
How shallow does it get?
The lake averages about seven feet at pool stage and 16 feet at its deepest, and a full drawdown leaves roughly 2,500 to 3,000 acres of water. Any structure that has to remain usable through a drawdown year has to be designed with that in mind.
Does giant salvinia affect construction?
Indirectly. Recurring salvinia mats are part of why the lake is drawn down, and they affect access for a work barge. It is one more reason to plan mobilization around the water schedule rather than the other way round.
Is Saline Lake in Shoretech's service area?
Yes — western Louisiana is part of the working footprint and Dave travels as far as a project warrants. Call 936-662-5100 to talk through the bank, the permit and the timing.
What We Build Here
Work suited to a cypress-lined, tannin-dark lake.
Shallow water, soft margins, salvinia and an eight-foot drawdown — the conditions every design here has to answer to.
Seawalls & Bulkheads on Saline Lake
Seawalls set during low water, with tiebacks, drainage and backfill designed for a soft, wooded shoreline.
Dock & Slip Repair
Repair and rebuild of existing docks, slips and walls in the drawdown window the commission itself recommends.
Precision Dredging
Slip and approach dredging under Corps authorization, with material pumped for reuse rather than trucked away.
Know the Water
An impoundment of Louisiana's only Wild and Scenic River.
About 7,000 acres at pool stage, behind the Saline Lake Dam completed in 1992.
Saline Bayou is a Red River tributary and Louisiana's only National Wild and Scenic River, and the lake it fills is a shallow wooded-tributary impoundment — dense bald cypress and buttonbush, dark tannin-stained water, and recurring giant salvinia mats.
The communities around it are Goldonna, Saline, Clarence, St. Maurice, Natchez and Winnfield, and on the water people navigate by Chee Chee Bay, Cedar Bluff and Little Lake. Tell us which of those you are near and we will already know a good deal about the bank you are working with.
Nearby Water
More lakes in this corner of Louisiana.
Start With a Conversation
Planning a Saline Lake project?
Call before the next drawdown, not during it. Tell Dave what needs repairing or building and we will work back from the gate schedule and the permit.