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CHEBOYGAN — As work to get the Cheboygan Lock and Dam Complex hydroelectric plant up and running continues, a team of up to 70 workers pitched in to shore up an upstream dam, according to a Michigan State Police (MSP) press release on Thursday.

On Wednesday, it was reported that water had eroded a spillway of the Kleber Dam on the Black River, according to the release. Work on repairs there had to pause on Wednesday due to issues on an access road.

The release stated that a request also was received from the operator of the Alverno Dam in Cheboygan County’s Benton Township on Wednesday to help remove river-borne debris from the dam gates. After the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Incident Management Team responded to that request, a breach in the Alverno Dam was discovered around 11:30 p.m. After sandbagging until about 3 a.m., a large cooperative team responded Thursday to provide additional reinforcement.

The team included DNR staff, MSP, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Coast Guard, local law enforcement, and local fire departments, according to the release. They worked through the night into Thursday. Cheboygan Cement Products provided 50, 3,000-pound sandbags as well as 2,000 smaller sandbags for the effort.

State-operated drones were in use on Thursday to gauge and document the situation at Alverno and Kleber dams.

Consumers Energy was actively engaged and awaiting testing of the hydroelectric facility at the Cheboygan Lock and Dam Complex, according to the release. Besides the cooperative effort to get the privately owned hydroelectric power plant running, enormous pumps are in use. The pumps can handle 125,000 gallons per minute when fully operational. A variety of sandbags and a large, water-filled tube also are in place to guide flowing water and prevent erosion.

MSP stated that spring rains and melting snow from a record March snowfall have caused rivers across the watershed to swell.

Cheboygan County emergency management officials were monitoring the situation and using the “Ready, Set, Go” system to advise residents about potential evacuations, according to MSP.