Plans to rebuild four dams on Michigan’s Tittabawassee River are advancing as Four Lakes Task Force, the group leading the projects, says it received the final permit from the state Dept. of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy for restoration of the Edenville Dam. FLTF says it now has permits to repair and reconstruct all four dams, which it estimates will together cost $350 million.

The Edenville and Sanford dams failed amid heavy rain in May 2020, and the Smallwood and Secord dams were damaged. All four consisted of earthfill embankments and gated concrete spillways. They also had powerhouses from their time as hydroelectric facilities, but the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission revoked former owner Boyce Hydro’s license to generate power at the Edenville Dam in 2018, and terminated licenses for the others in 2021.

Edenville has required the most complex permitting process of the four dams, needing floodplain studies, FEMA map revision submissions and permits from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service related to a protected mussel species. Its construction is planned in five phases, three of which covered emergency stabilization and construction of a cutoff wall and are already complete. 

“Acquiring this permit has been an extensive process,” Dave Kepler, president of FLTF, said in a statement. 

The fourth phase of construction is substantially complete according to FLTF, but work was suspended last year over funding issues. The group received a $200-million grant from the state for the projects, but additional municipal funding depends on a lake level special assessment, which is currently the focus of a lawsuit before the Michigan Supreme Court. FLTF recently filed a motion requesting a decision by May 1.

FLTF also recently submitted a stream mitigation and monitoring plan to the Michigan Dept. of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, but a spokesperson for FLTF says the review is expected to be complete by the end of April and construction is not contingent on that review. 

The fifth phase of Edenville Dam construction is planned to include upgrades to its two spillways and the addition of an auxiliary spillway to protect the dam during a major flood. 

With municipal funding on hold pending the outcome of the court case, FLTF also suspended work by Midland, Mich.-based Fisher Contracting Co. on the Secord and Smallwood dams at safe stopping points last year, and is in the process of suspending work on the Sanford Dam, too. 

If the court case is resolved in time to take advantage of this year’s construction season and there are no further suspensions, FLTF estimates work on the Smallwood Dam could complete late this year, the Secord and Sanford dams could be completed around May 2026 and the Edenville Dam could achieve substantial completion during the summer of 2027.