Amid stacked rows of brightly colored plastic kayaks and cano
es, Khrystal Crosno recently helped an Ann Arbor family begin a floating trip along the scenic AuTrain River.
The Earl family should spot turtles, herons and river otters during the 7-mile trip toward Lake Superior. Maybe even a black bear, Crosno told them.
Crosno had no doubt the Earls would enjoy the slow trip.
What she worries about is the crumbling dam 6 miles south that helps keep the water flow steady.
“We need the water to do what we do,” said Crosno.
She and others are nervous because the dam’s future — and perhaps their livelihoods and safety — is in serious jeopardy.
For at least 15 years, the federal government has demanded that the dam’s owners upgrade the structure to meet sa
fety standards to handle a potentially devastating weather event.
But, as of August, those repairs — costing up to $4 million — have not taken place. The top of the dam, built nearly
a century ago, is pockmarked, with chunks of missing concrete. Streaks of water leak through a seam in the dam.
Should snowmelt or rain swell Forest Lake beyond the dam’s capacity and it fails, the torrents of water w
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ould likely wash out M-94, a main east-west artery just 100 yards north of the dam.
Water would then rush downstream, over AuTrain falls, a local tourist spot, and into AuTrain Lake, surrounded by cottages and water-focused businesses, and the
n down to the AuTrain River and imperil businesses like Crosno’s AuTrain River Adventures.
That would occur though the Federal Energy Regulatory Comm
ission made the 2010 sale of the dam to the current owners contingent on upgrades that have not been done.
“Every time (FERC) would ask them to do (repairs), they’d dela
y,” said Tom Balmes, 71, supervisor of AuTrain Township. “FERC never forced them to do it.”
And it would happen after lawmakers and state regulators failed to implement reforms pushed after catastrophic dam failures in mid-Michigan five years ago.
Should another dam fail — with lawmakers again expressing outrage and calling for change — Bryan Burroughs, executive director of conservation group Michigan Trout Unlimited, said he’ll say, “Told you so.”
“I will be the old curmudgeon who sits in the back and shakes his finger and says, ‘Shame on you,’ ” he said.