Courtesy photo A gate from the Beaver Lake dam is pictured. This dam was rebuilt last year and work on rebuilding Long Lake dam is ongoing.

ALPENA — According to Gerald Fournier, Alpena County drain commissioner, Alpena County owned dams are in good shape and are inspected regularly to comply with state regulations.

In 2025, Alpena County replaced the dam on Beaver Lake which Fournier said was built around 1939. He added that the county, in partnership with the Long Lake Association, is almost done rebuilding the Long Lake dam.

Fournier said that the Long Lake dam was built around 1970 and is 80 feet long, with five gates 16 feet long, each.

He explained that the updates to both the Beaver Lake and Long Lake dams were paid for by bonds.

According to Fournier, dams are inspected every three years by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The next inspection for the Beaver Lake dam, however, will take place in 2028 because the dam is new.

“We didn’t have to do Beaver Lake this year because it’s brand new,” Fournier said. “Every three years it has to be inspected.”

Fournier said that since the dam failures near Midland in 2020 he has seen an increase in concern among Alpena County residents regarding the safety and viability of dams in the area.

“This is just to keep everybody’s pulse down,” Fournier said.

He added that in the fall of each year, lakes are drawn down to account for ice in the winter. In the spring, once the ice breaks up, gates are closed to bring the lake levels back up.

“Start bringing the lake back up, trying to catch that spring runoff, so it’ll do it quicker,” Fournier said.

For Long Lake, because it is shallow and spread out, he said that it “takes a while to bring it up, and some hot days, no rain, affects it.”

“You have a lot of evaporation on Long Lake compared to Beaver Lake,” he added.

Fournier said that the state keeps close tabs on dams because of the safety risks dams pose if they are not properly maintained.

For example, he said that if a gate gives out on a dam, “we’re in trouble.”

“That’s 16 feet of water … don’t take long,” he added. “Everybody gets flooded out around the lake and my phone rings.”

County Administrator Jesse Osmer said that, in the state of Michigan, the drain commissioner is the only elected official who can put in an assessment or a tax without going to the voters first.

He added that the drain commissioner’s job is a “necessity” and that “it’s an emergency type thing,” Osmer said.

Kayla Wikaryasz can be reached at 989-358-5688 or kwikaryasz@TheAlpenaNews.com.