County commissioners urge repairs for Cornwall Dam
CHEBOYGAN — The Cheboygan County Board of Commissioners has weighed in on the future of the Cornwall Flooding Dam.
At the board's Feb. 28 meeting, it passed a resolution favoring repairing the dam rather than tearing it down, said chairman John Wallace.
The Cornwall Flooding Dam, owned by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), is in the heart of the Pigeon River Country State Forest and is a popular spot for fishing, kayaking and other outdoor activities.
More:'It's a special place': Cheboygan locals seek funding to save Cornwall Flooding
Built in 1966, the Cornwall dam is classified by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) as a high hazard dam. This means that the dam is in an area where a failure may cause serious damage to homes or infrastructure downstream, where environmental degradation would be significant, or where danger to individuals exists with the potential for the loss of life.
Plans have been announced to lower the level of the impoundment in late summer or fall this year to address the safety concerns as well as to seek grant funding for removal of the dam.
“The DNR recognizes the recreational importance of Cornwall Flooding, but protecting the public safety of area visitors and everyone living downstream is our top priority,” Jim Dexter, chief of the DNR Fisheries Division, said in a statement. “We have sought funding in recent years to lower the water and complete safety modifications, all while retaining the impoundment. While we were able to secure limited funding, it wasn’t enough — due in part to the rising costs of construction — to renovate the dam.”
According to Tim Cwalinski of the DNR fisheries division in Gaylord, the department has been seeking funding to renovate the dam in order to keep the body of water behind the impoundment, however, they have not been able to secure enough funding and must take action for the sake of safety.
“We've been looking for the enormous amounts of money it takes to renovate (a dam), it's a lot of money. It's over a million dollars. We've come up with some funds, but we can't come up with enough and we've been looking for three years. Even if we were going to renovate it, rebuild it, (we) still have to draw out a dam, you can't work it wet,” Cwalinski said.
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Huron Pines, a local conservation organization, is also an advocate for the renovation of Cornwall Dam and noted that Cornwall Creek Flooding provides habitat for common loons, bald eagles, osprey, and other wildlife in the Pigeon River Country State Forest.
Meanwhile, the county board also approved a resolution opposing the expansion of Camp Grayling. The Michigan National Guard has proposed leasing nearly 162,000 acres of adjacent state forest land from the DNR in Crawford, Kalkaska and Otsego counties to conduct training exercises that use sophisticated communications systems.
Even though there is no Cheboygan County land involved in the proposed expansion, Wallace said the board was opposed due to the impact it could have on private property.
"We look it as the gateway to the north. Nobody mentioned the Kirtland's warbler and what effect it will have on them," said Wallace.
— Contact Paul Welitzkin at pwelitzkin@gaylordheraldtimes.com.
This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: County commissioners urge repairs for Cornwall Dam
