Michigan’s aging dams pose growing risks to thousands of downstream residents. Weak standards, slow enforcement and scarce funding mean problem dams fester as climate change brings ever-bigger floods.
2020 Midland dam break
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Dam safety reforms, millions for repairs advance in Michigan Legislature
Dueling state House and state Senate bills need additional votes before heading to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s desk, but the votes represent major action on reforms that have stalled in past sessions.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch, Outdoors Life
Bridge Listens: The facts about Michigan’s environment, data centers, dams
Bridge readers identified the environment as a top 2026 election concern, with data centers, Great Lakes health and energy policy topping the list. We break down the issues, the facts and possible solutions.
Posted inMichigan Government
Bridge Listens: What Michigan’s next governor plans for data centers, clean energy
From data centers to dams and climate change, Michigan gubernatorial candidates tell Bridge what they would do to protect the Great Lakes and wider environment.
Posted inMichigan Government
In their words: Michigan governor candidates on key environmental issues
Michigan governor candidates tell Bridge Michigan how they’d address Great Lakes threats, data centers, aging dams, energy generation, climate change and more.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Michigan’s latest dam safety crisis revives calls for reforms, funding
Lawmakers vowed to strengthen Michigan’s weak dam safety laws after the Midland dam failures of 2020 but never did. Some see a window of opportunity for renewed action after the latest floods.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
5 things to know as Michigan lawmakers try again on dam safety reforms
A bipartisan group in the state House wants to boost Michigan’s weak dam safety standards while requiring owners to prove they can afford to maintain their dams.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Worries over Michigan’s dams resurface as repair funds run dry, reforms lag
After the Midland dam failures, lawmakers set aside millions to fix or remove other problem dams but never updated Michigan’s weak dam safety laws. Now the money has run dry, leading some to fear a dam safety ‘déjà vu.’
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
As Consumers mulls selling 13 dams, some in Michigan fear another disaster
As it looks to exit the unprofitable hydropower business, Consumers is mulling offers from a handful of potential buyers. But hydro watchdogs warn that cut-rate sales of aging dams often come with hidden public costs.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Michigan dams restoration delayed amid rising costs, mounting frustration
Four years after floods swept away two mid-Michigan dams, a wave of discontent among property owners over their share of the bill will delay some of the restoration work, officials said.
