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MI Environment - Gov Whitmer, Lt Gov Gilchrist, EGLE Director Clark mark flooding anniversary with community clean-up event
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Michigan Dams Still Need Fixing a Year After Failure
A year later, residents are looking at $215 million price to restore the emptied lakes with the earliest dams of four area dams completed by 2024 and the latest by 2026. Residents will be assessed to pay for the repairs.
May 19, 2021 •
(TNS) - While the reasons for the Edenville Dam s failure a year ago Wednesday are clear a poorly maintained dam unable to keep back historic rainfall holding those responsible accountable and fixing the policy failures that allowed the structure to skirt safety standards for years have been less straight forward.
After Edenville Dam gave way on May 19, 2020 , and overwhelmed the downstream Sanford Dam pushing about 10,000 Midland -area residents to evacuate government documents revealed years of non-compliance with state and federal standards, a fumbled hand-off of oversight between the feds and state, and an underfunded dam safety effort ill-equipped to hold the dam owner to task.
UpdatedTue, May 18, 2021 at 8:14 pm ET
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What was once Sanford Lake in mid-Michigan is pictured Tuesday. Wednesday marks one year since two dams failed, causing widespread flooding and the emptying of Sanford Lake. (Photo courtesy of Will Wood. )
SANFORD, MI When Will Wood was a child, he d look out the front window of his childhood house and see small waves forming on Sanford Lake. He d watch as the water would rise up and crash down on itself repeatedly.
There are memories of riding on pontoon boats, jet skis and swimming. What was essentially his front yard when growing up was a decent-sized lake, offering endless opportunities for summer fun and entertainment.
One year after the failures of the Edenville and Sanford dams, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) continues to assist the community in recovery efforts and planning for the future of the affected communities.
Wednesday marks a year since the dams failed during a torrential rain event, displacing thousands of residents, damaging businesses and livelihoods, destroying property and natural resources, and illuminating the chronic problem of deferred maintenance of Michigan s infrastructure. A year has passed, but for the families and businesses affected by the dam failures it surely feels like only yesterday, said Liesl Clark, EGLE director. We had personnel literally on the dam just prior to its failure, and since then we ve engaged continually with community leaders to provide scientific, logistical and technical support to help them recover from this disaster.
Detroit Free Press
Michigan needs to do and spend much more to avoid further disasters like the two dam failures that caused catastrophic flooding in Midland and Gladwin counties in May 2020, the Michigan Dam Safety Task Force states in its final report submitted this week to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
The 19-member task force, including state department heads, engineers, dam safety officials and others, was convened by Whitmer following the Edenville and Sanford dam failures on the Tittabawassee River amid record rains last May. The dam failures drained the Wixom Lake and Sanford Lake impoundments, causing devastating flooding downriver in Midland, with more than $250 million in damages. Whitmer asked the task force to take a comprehensive look at the state s 2,500 dams, about 1,100 of which are regulated by the state, and whether their regulation was adequate.
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