Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat Willow grass?

OK... I have a good sized pond with lots of shoreline. The dam is approximately 700 feet wide. The primary wind direction is from the NW. I have lots of open farm fields to the NW, W, and SW of the pond. The waves on the pond are causing some erosion in different areas - particularly the dam. The obvious answer is rip rap. The problem is justifying the expense of that much rip rap. The cattail thread talks about some related things. Would willow grass or something similar cut down the erosion by slowing waves before they hit the bank? Is the downside too bad to consider?