Construction on the Sanford Dam is just about done. In early May, the newly revived Sanford Lake rose back to its legal level for the first time after being completely drained.
Dave Kepler is president of the Four Lakes Task Force, which is overseeing the repair of the dams. He says Sanford Lake is going to look and feel different than it did before the dams broke.
"There was a lot of sediment shifting on the bottom of the lake. So the depth of the lakes in some places are going to be shallower and some places are going to be deeper. But the lake level itself is within the same range that we had before."
Kepler says the water is safe for boaters and swimmers, and there are already small fish returning to the lake from the Tittabawasee River just in time for summer.
The Secord and Smallwood dams will be complete later this year. The Edenville dam is still a work in progress, and Kepler says it will be done in the fall of 2027.
