Who’s at fault for Midland dam failures? Pretty much everyone, report says

The mid-Michigan dam failures in 2020 were “foreseeable and preventable,” if only pretty much anyone involved in the Edenville Dam’s century-long lifespan had recognized and acted upon its shoddy construction and the potential that extreme floodwaters would punch a hole through its embankment.

That’s one takeaway from a five-member independent forensic team tasked with investigating the physical and human causes of the May 2020 dam failures at Edenville and the downstream Sanford Dam near Midland, which flooded out mid-Michigan, causing more than $200 million in property damage and forcing more than 10,000 people to evacuate.

Our 2023 Budget for Rivers

Our 2023 Budget for Rivers

The challenges facing rivers can feel overwhelming. Climate change, perhaps rivers’ most existential threat, is fueling record-breaking floods and drought. A long history of racial injustice forces the impacts of climate change, along with pollution, dams and other...
New IPCC Report Doubles Down on Water Crisis

New IPCC Report Doubles Down on Water Crisis

The IPCC report released today is yet another urgent alarm bell, urging us to wake up to the real dangers of climate change that communities across the globe are already experiencing.  Climate change is bringing severe consequences – from increasing floods and failing...
Myth of the Hydrosystem: the safety of dams

Myth of the Hydrosystem: the safety of dams

In November of 2017, with the Hebgen Dam’s final phase of its $40 million upgrade and rehabilitation nearly completed, it now had the latest in safety and technological improvements. Despite being a state of the art facility, less than four years since those upgrades...