Legislation was introduced in the Michigan House and Senate in May that could allocate millions of dollars for dam repairs to restore the four lakes. Even though the Michigan legislature and the administration have agreed to a budget for the next fiscal year, any financial allocation for the dams would more than likely come in the approval of a supplemental appropriation, with discussion on these types of investments beginning in October. Financing for the bills is possible because of excess available funds.
We are pleased to see this interim report from the forensic investigation team. The five-member independent forensic team (IFT) is investigating the failures and the physical and human factors that contributed to the cause of the Edenville Dam and Sanford Dam failures. In this interim report, the IFT’s findings to date on the physical mechanisms are presented in only summary form, with all the detailed evidence being compiled and presented in the IFT’s final report to be issued in the next several months.
On Wednesday, August 18, over 250 people joined our public informational communications webinar. During a panel discussion, engineers, consultants and FLTF leadership shared information about flood studies, tasks required to bring up each lake, and updates on each dam.
Questions submitted via email were answered throughout the presentation and the event concluded with a public comment period. Thank you to everyone who attended! If you missed the session you may watch a recording or view the slides here. Below is a summary of some of the information shared. Where funding and grants are directed depends on the funding source.
Divers will be inspecting the areas immediately downstream of the spillway (the tailrace) at Secord and Smallwood dams this week. These are recommended items from the January 2021 GEI inspection report and are considered interim repairs.
FLTF is serving as Midland County's sponsor for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Program. The EWP program covers 75% of the cost to remove flood debris and the county pays for the remaining 25% (FLTF is not responsible for any project costs).
Erosion Stabilization Stats
With the help of volunteers, Spicer Group engineers and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), over a mile of shoreline that threatened homes or infrastructure has been stabilized. |
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