Dam Restoration Suspension Timeline

An updated suspension schedule was posted May 17, 2024. Please view it here.

Today Four Lakes Task Force (FLTF), the Delegated Authority for restoring the four lakes and dams in Midland and Gladwin counties, announced the Schedule for suspending restoration construction work in the coming months on Secord, Smallwood, Edenville and Sanford dams, and that the start of Edenville Dam’s final phase of construction will be delayed. 

Work will suspend on Secord Dam in June 2024 shortly after the completion of the auxiliary spillway (pictured).

On February 21, 2024, Heron Cove Association (HCA) filed a claim of appeal in Midland Circuit Court requesting that the lake level special assessments be set aside. The process for appeal could take several months. FLTF is not able to issue bonds in June as planned to finance the completion of the Four Lakes dam reconstruction final project phases. Additional unnecessary costs are now accruing that will impact the community with an uncertain outcome.

“This appeal has impacted FLTF’s plan to acquire financing in June, and it is uncertain when or if we can issue bonds required to proceed with the construction to complete the project,” said Dave Kepler, president and chairperson of Four Lakes Task Force. “While we respect peoples’ right to appeal, it is a setback and disappointing considering the progress we have made as a community to restore our lakes. The appeal puts us in a position where we are limited to use only State of Michigan grant funds and must ration the work that can take place.”

With uncertainty regarding funding for the lakes’ restoration, no dam can be fully restored unless this issue of the appeal is resolved. Certain items of the project now underway must be completed on each of the dams with the remaining approximately $100 million of available State of Michigan funds to ensure dam safety requirements are met.

The Edenville embankment upgrades, auxiliary spillways on Secord and Smallwood, and certain phases of construction on the east side of the Sanford Dam will be finished. The Edenville restoration construction final phase, currently awaiting a final permit, will not start as planned. The restoration projects on the other dams will be halted once the current phase of work is completed.

“We hope to have clarity before September on funding for the capital improvements and operations and maintenance of the dams,” Kepler said. “With that, we can move forward. Without it, we are on hold for the foreseeable future on if and when the lakes will be restored.”

Four Lakes’ Dams Anticipated Work Suspension Schedule

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Dam	Suspension Date and Description
Secord	June 2024 Shortly after the completion of the auxiliary spillway
Smallwood	​August 2024 After auxiliary spillway is complete and the low flow outlet is stabilized
Edenville	May 2024 The final phase of the Edenville Dam, planned to start by May (pending permit), is now delayed until financing September 2024 The completion of the current embankment improvement project
Sanford	​December 2024 Completion of the current east side work

The Four Lakes restoration project is operated and financed as one project in phases. This Schedule assumes an inability to proceed with financing before September 2024 for the final phases of the lakes’ restoration. With this schedule, $162 million of the $180 million of state funding being applied to the dams’ restoration will be spent by the end of 2024, assuming FLTF is unable to obtain financing before September 2024. Anticipated expenditures by dam by the end of 2024 using State of Michigan funds for this schedule will be:

• Secord                              $53 million
• Smallwood                       $35 million
• Edenville                          $30 million
• Sanford                            $39 million
• All Dams                          $5 million (work not tracked to a specific dam, applies to all four)

The remaining $18 million is reserved for contingency to carry out the suspension work, as well as to ensure there are maintenance funds going into 2025 and 2026. The FLTF dam safety engineers have been engaged in determining the safest pause points given the resource constraints. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy has been notified and discussions are in place to finalize these plans.

Note: A three-month delay to the project will have a cost increase impact of $1.5-$3 million. This increase assumes certainty on financing before September 2024. Should the pause extend further, the cost increase will be greater.