State officials started an "emergency" lowering of water levels on Trout Lake in Gladwin County last week because of concerns the Trout Lake dam might fail.
A report from the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy said the dam's wooden stop locks which hold back water are rotting and leaking. Spring runoff put the failing boards under more pressure and raised the risk of failure or the uncontrolled release of water.
The Dam is more than 60 years old and is managed by the Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Division. The DNR says the dam's expected lifespan was only 50 years.
"Those boards have been intermittently replaced over the years, but the reality is they're on their way out," said DNR fisheries' Lake Huron Basin Coordinator Doug Schultz. "And we're at risk of failure if you don't take some pressure off that."
Emergency lowering began on April, 10 and was coordinated by the Department of Environment Great Lakes and Energy. The lake and dam are near a campground and boat access site. The state says visitors should anticipate some noticeable changes to the landscape.
Schultz says the plan is to lower water levels by no more than 12 inches of lake level per week, so fisheries staff can assess impacts to aquatic life.
This summer, the DNR may reduce water levels further to inspect the dam's structural integrity and decide if the dam should be entirely removed.
If that happens, Trout Lake would become much smaller than the roughly 25 acres it is now.
Schultz says the irony of Trout lake is its absence of Trout. He says damming the stream to create Trout lake made the water too warm for trout species to thrive.
"One of the ecological benefits if the [dam] comes out, is the opportunity for us to revert back to a cold water dominated fish community that can support trout again," Schultz said.
The catastrophic flooding caused by the failures of the Edenville and Sanford Dams five years ago, also in Gladwin County, highlighted the risk of the state's aging dam infrastructure.
A Dam Safety Task Force report published in 2021 estimates Michigan is home to more than 2600 publicly and privately owned dams. There are concerns that many of the are aging, dilapidated, or unfit for a changing environment.
