Anyone who has stood in a stream or river for very long understands quickly how powerful water can be.

Maintaining balance in a stream with even a small current can be tiring, at best.

Imagine, then, what kind of force unleashed water behind a dam might be like if suddenly that pool were drained all at once.

This spring, that scenario played out at Midland-area dams that failed and were breached. As a result of that catastrophe, a state task force was formed and, this week, its members presented a preliminary report that eventually will be presented to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in February.

Not surprisingly, Michigan’s dams are pretty old, which makes sense, when you consider the state’s history. The North Country of Michigan was a forester’s dream in the state’s early history, and water was an easy and cheap way to move the lumber to the ports of the Great Lakes, where it would be loaded and shipped elsewhere.

While efficient, all that lumbering along the rivers quickly led to erosion issues and, as the years went on, the erosion also altered water flow and led to more flooding downstream. Eventually, many dams were built as a means of controlling those spring floods from the headwaters.

According to a Detroit News story this week, Michigan has more than 2,500 dams, but, of those, over half — or 1,370 –are small and not regulated by any government agency. That concerns us.

We hope the governor and the Legislature next year will move to establish a maintenance and inspection schedule for all the state’s dams. If a dam has been abandoned, then a determination should be made whether to remove it.

The task force came up with 19 recommendations.

Unlike other issues, we hope the Legislature and governor can come together and begin work to address the issues in a timely and efficient manner.

(THE ALPENA NEWS)