By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
CENTREVILLE — An informational meeting held in Centreville last week gave local residents insight into the effects of a planned drawdown at a dam near the Langley Covered Bridge.
The meeting, held by the City of Sturgis June 11 at the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department Training Center, gave residents a timeline of the events leading up to the announcement of a drawdown at the dam and hydroelectric plant on the St. Joseph River near Centreville. It was also residents’ first opportunity to try to get answers as to how they may be affected by the drawdown, especially when it comes to farming.
The City of Sturgis was informed on May 5 by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the federal agency that regulates the dam, that they would need to draw down the reservoir area upstream of the dam by 3 feet, and do so by July 15. The drawdown is in response to a recent evaluation of conditions on the left embankment of the dam, and is being done as what’s called an interim risk reduction measure.
Sturgis officials have requested an extension on the timeframe to Sept. 15, a request currently being evaluated by FERC with an answer expected sometime within the next couple of weeks. FERC officials were in the area Tuesday for an annual evaluation of the dam.
If the request to extend the drawdown is denied, the earliest and current timeframe for the drawdown to begin is Monday, July 6. City of Sturgis Electric Superintendent Chris McArthur said, barring an extension, the city is planning on having the drawdown start on that date. The drawdown would be no more than 6 inches per day, done similar to when a drawdown occurred for Covered Bridge repairs in 2023.
“If you guys were on the river in 2023 when we drew it down for the bridge, it’ll be the same drawdown rate, as well as if you saw dry property or stumps, it’ll be the exact same as it was then,” McArthur said.
The drawdown is expected to impact water levels in both directions. Upstream, officials expect levels to be lowered as far upstream as just east of Mendon and levels to be raised as far downstream as Three Rivers.
Chris Jeter, a lead engineer with Lawson Fisher Associates, said the embankment in question has had issues going back to 2016, when emergency grouting was done to temporarily address seepage concerns. Currently, seepage conditions still exist through the earthen embankment, with wetness continuing to be observed at the toe of its downstream slope.
Jeter said a preliminary engineering report was developed in 2021 to identify ways to flatten the slope and address seepage. A preliminary plan was submitted in 2022, with a final plan submitted in 2023, however Jeter and McArthur said that design was not approved by FERC. Because of that, the city had to go through Potential Failure Mode Analysis sessions with FERC to refine the design. That lasted until 2025, and was the reason why the project was not done when the dam was drawn down in 2023 while Covered Bridge repairs occurred.
“This last [failure mode session] we had in December, we brought in a contractor to give that voice in the room, and in my opinion that kind of put FERC’s mind at ease that this is a viable design,” Jeter said. “At least we have approval with a concept and everything.”
How the city plans to fix the dam is to raise the existing south abutment wall, replacement of the existing toe and lateral drains, replacing the existing grout mattress on the upstream embankment slope with erosion protection, raising the detached embankment to match the elevation of the main one, replacing piezometers, and upgrades to the canoe portage and an ADA path to the embankment toe.
According to a project timeline, the city will complete the project design next month, put it out for bid in August, and get the contractor onboarded in September. Construction would then start in March 2027 after the contractor is evaluated, and it is expected to take six to nine months.
Returning the reservoir to its normal level would not occur until repairs to the embankment are complete and environmental conditions allow, and depending on how fast the project goes, the levels may not return to normal heights until April 2028. That’s due to state rules regarding when drawdowns and water raisings can occur; because of winter hibernation of aquatic life, levels cannot be changed between Oct. 15 and April 15.
“That is best-case scenario so far,” McArthur said on the timeline. “If we get it done in six months, and we can raise it in October, we can certainly do that in 2027.”
In the question-and-answer setting, some of those in attendance expressed their disappointment with the amount of notice given by FERC for the drawdown, saying two months was not enough time. McArthur agreed with those in attendance, saying that was a reason why the extension was applied for.
“We understand it’s short notice for all of you guys, a lot of you have already got boats in the water, farmers are already irrigating, and we understand that impact. That’s why we requested the extension,” McArthur said, noting the visit on Tuesday from FERC. “They’ll come on Tuesday, evaluate and make their final determination at that point. Doesn’t give us a lot of time to let you guys know one way or the other.”
Another resident asked about if there would be any difference in the timeline if the drawdown was pushed back, to which McArthur said there wouldn’t be any difference. Later, he said that was essentially the reply he sent to FERC when they advised the July drawdown. Sturgis City Manager Andrew Kuk reiterated that FERC is mainly looking at the drawdown as a “risk-reduction measure.”
“They’re looking at their inspections of the dam, their evaluations of the dam. We’ve been right along, making sure that we’re monitoring the seepage and those types of things, and keep an eye on that,” Kuk said. He added that after the most recent inspection, FERC said initially that the city should “keep working on repairs with us,” well prior to the notice in May to draw down.
Many of the concerns expressed during the sessions came from farmers who rely on access to the river for irrigation purposes. One farmer, Lyndon Kelly, asked if the drawdown were to still go through in July, whether there would be any reimbursement for lost crop production for the year, due to potential irrigation issues. McArthur said those issues would need to be handled with the state or FERC, while Kelly replied by saying that dropping the drawdown back to September “solves a huge number of problems” for farmers.
“What we’ve done is had them plant expensive specialty crops – potato, seed corn and things – that will almost always fail without irrigation, and that’s why we put the irrigation on, and then we lower the river to the point where their intakes won’t be able to do it without some kind of application,” Kelly said. “I think we ought to talk to them about that. I think your proposed dropback solves a huge number of problems and allow folks to not plant crops that have that drop-dead.”
Another resident asked if there was a way to contact FERC or the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), and Kuk said they would send one.
McArthur said the City of Sturgis Electric ratepayers would be footing the bill for dam repairs, since Sturgis Electric owns the dam, and it does not come out of any city tax money. McArthur said he also didn’t foresee any other items that could cause an impact to water levels in the immediate future, and that there’s no risk of further lowering of the river level.
Following the meeting, Larry Rice, a farmer who owns property right near the dam, acknowledged that, for the most part, many people in attendance were “preaching to the choir” about the drawdown, because he recognized they aren’t “in control of the decision.” He said if the extension for the drawdown does not occur, he could stand to lose tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in crops.
“Any information that we get, at least in the process, is good to know, but it is frustrating that the decision is not ultimately going to be made by the people in the room here, or even the representatives from Sturgis who are nearly in the same boat we are, and that’s the frustration,” Rice said. “I knew the extension request had been made. That’ll make all the difference in the short term, whether we have a problem or whether we don’t have a problem. If the extension is granted, we’re probably okay for this irrigation system.”
Overall, McArthur acknowledged the concerns brought up by residents during the meeting, and said this week will be major for how the drawdown will go.
“I think there’s definitely some legitimate concerns, certainly concerns that we’ve raised at the federal level as well,” McArthur said, then discussed whether the extension could occur.
“It’s really hard to tell. I think next week’s inspection will bring that to light. I’m not for sure one way or the other, to be honest with you,” McArthur said. “That would be the best-case scenario as far as that goes for the farmers, for sure.”
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
