Statement on the Future of the Sanford, Wixom, Smallwood, and Secord Lakes

Recent events related to the Edenville dam failure were terrible and tragic for our community. All of us on the Four Lakes Task Force are devastated by our individual and collective losses, and our hearts go out to everyone who is impacted. The Lake Associations and Counties were in the process of acquiring the dams, with a closing expected, and then to improve the dams to survive historic floods. The acquisition has not and will not take place under the terms that were negotiated with Boyce Hydro this past winter.

We are reassessing the path forward to acquire the Boyce property and rebuild our dams and lakes. The Four Lakes Task Force is collaborating with the Counties, lake communities and regulatory authorities on the best path forward as we assess the issues and work toward recovery.
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We ask people to please stay off the lake bottoms, until the dam systems and shorelines are evaluated, and it is determined what actions are needed. This is in the interest of everyone’s safety.

While we do not have all the answers, we are committed to keep you informed and will share more details in the coming weeks, as we have them. We know this is a personal and economic hardship on everyone, and we will not be pursuing funding that would result in an assessment at this time. We will seek other sources of public and private funding.

Through county resolutions and a Circuit Court Order under Part 307 of the Natural Resource and Environmental Protection Act, the legal lake levels are still in effect.
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“Four Lakes Task Force, as the delegated authority of the counties, is dedicated to returning these lakes to a recreational and natural resource gem of the region,” stated Dave Kepler, president of the Four Lakes Task Force. “We will do this with a continued focus on public safety.”

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