While owners are legally responsible for the work done by the contractors they hire this does not mean that owners necessarily hired a contractor with the intent that the contractor would violate the law. Frequently, the owner is not at their lake residence while the work is being done so they might never see the water quality violation that could occur. They trust that they have hired professionals and that things will done properly. This doesn't mean there aren't owners out there that have insisted on completing things in an illegal manner, I have met a few, experience has shown them to be the exception. As for things that may or may not be violations here are some things to keep in mind.
Much of our purpose is to protect water quality. Therefore permits for permanent structure work and dredge will typically have a condition requiring the containment of turbidity through the duration of the project. This usually means installing curtains around the project. The curtain boom is visible above the water while weights are supposed to keep it in contact with the lake bed. We recognize and take into consideration that even the best turbidity controls can be overwhelmed in a violent storm or wind event. However if a project generates turbidity, failure to install any controls at all will always be considered a violation.
As recently as the early 1990s it was possible for a contractor to have a permit that would allow them to dispose of individual rocks in deep water. It should be noted that this was specifically for rocks and was never allowed for general dredge spoils or other debris. This is no longer allowed at all. Nothing should be being pushed off a barge into the lake as a means of disposal. Among the factors that figured into this change in what is allowed were concerns about turbidity, spread of invasive species, an inability to monitor what exactly was being pushed of the barge and whether or not debris, trash, or contaminants were being mixed in, someone accidently dropping a really big rock on a wreck site, and habitat loss. To address the habitat loss issue, the Department changed the standard permitting conditions from allowing deep water rock disposal to requiring the relocation of rocks removed to nearby locations of similar depth where they will not pose a navigational risk. Again, this shift happened 1990s. Dredge spoils are to be dewatered and removed from the lake. Only large rocks and boulders are relocated to preserve habitat.
BTW this should not be taken as an indictment of all contractors. Most try to do the right thing. Honest mistakes can be made. Every population has its outliers...
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