Sanford Dam Failure

The Sanford Marina was ready to open the day the dam broke. The lakeside business, along with many others were complete destroyed. Six years later, the Sanford dam is fixed, the lake is full and the Marina is getting ready to open for the second time.

Six years after historic flooding caused by the failure of the Edenville, Sanford, Smallwood and Secord Dams devastated parts of Midland and Gladwin Counties, the Sanford Dam and it's lake are almost fully restored.

The opinion released Thursday by the Michigan Court of Claims says state environmental officials did not overreach their authority, and that the dam was ultimately private property.

The village of Sanford has been raising money to replace an essential road bridge for 10 years. Now, the village is closer than ever to their goal.

Property owners were unsuccessful in their court challenge of the special assessments that will go towards repairing the Secord, Smallwood, Sanford and Edenville dams after they were destroyed in 2020 by mass flooding.

A bill proposed by Congresswoman Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Bay City) and Congressman John Moolenaar (R-Caledonia) are pushing to cut red tape for communities impacted by natural disasters.

Much of the restored materials from the 2020 flooding is in storage awaiting a new home at Midland Center for the Arts.

In the five years since the Sanford dam failure, the village has rebuilt. But financial challenges persist as the community works on infrastructure projects and prepares for a special assessment to rebuild the dam.

A federal $130 million loan to restore four dams in Midland and Gladwin counties has been denied.

The Four Lakes Task force, the group that manages the dam, says clearing trees out of the lake bottom is one of the big hurdles still left to cross.