All Four Dams Under Construction 
The Sanford Dam permit for restoration construction was approved Thursday, October 26th, by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. The construction crews are mobilizing and work is expected to start this week.

We've reached the final steps in acquiring the permit for Sanford Dam. The next steps are to get approval of the stream mitigation plan from EGLE (Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy). We responded to comments received during the public comment period and submitted them to EGLE.
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We are likely to receive the permit in September based on EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) final review. 

FLTF has made significant progress on Sanford and Edenville permitting to the point it is likely Sanford Dam will go to public comment for permitting in May. Edenville may take a little longer, however, FLTF will have a project to upgrade the embankments and add a cutoff wall this year, with a plan for a total restoration bid by the end of this year.  The FLTF Webinar from April 26, 2023 provided a detailed status update. 

Last week FLTF received the construction bids for Sanford Dam from two out-of-state construction companies, the bids were higher than expected.

In spring 2022, Four Lakes Task Force began the process to pre-qualify construction firms for the Secord and Smallwood dam restoration projects. The result is a list of eight contractors. Of those, four confirmed their intention to bid. One company is local to the Great Lakes Bay Region. The formal bid documents were released on October 17, 2022. 

On October 20, 2022, over 200 attendees, 16 vendors and 11 presenters filed into the Midland Center for the Arts for an all-day event about the path to Four Lakes restoration. What follows is a summary of the symposium.

Click to read FLTF's Q3 report: 

1. Financial Summary
2. Bottomland Improvement and Path Forward for Vegetation Management
3. Permit Status
4. Dam by Dam Updates