DNR Launches “Dam Management Grant Program”
$350,000 available for maintenance and repairs.
Officials with Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources are helping to fund dam removal and maintenance across the state. The agency is providing $350,000 dollars to help communities address aging dams that are falling into disrepair. Program manager Kelly Parker says many of the structures no longer serve an economic purpose, and are becoming a safety concern.
“A lot of them were established back when logging and hydroelectric were being used and now that has become obsolete, those dams that were established have pretty much gone to the wayside.”
Kelly Parker, Dam Management Grant Program Manager for Michigan DNR
Parker says removing neglected dams will open up rivers and streams for fish. She says the “Dam Management Grant Program” has been successful in opening waterways statewide, from the Porcupine Mountains in the Upper Peninsula to Metro Detroit.
