In a little over a year since it was drained for dam repairs, Morrow Lake in Comstock Township would soon be filled with water once again.
The Morrow Lake reservoir refill was scheduled to begin on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020.
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The dam project was originally supposed to be a four-month long repair, but instead turned into a much longer duration to replace two of the dam's spillway gates.
David Fox, Director of Licensing and Compliance for STS Hydropower, confirmed the completion of spillway gate replacement Dec. 16 in a written statement.
According to STS, getting the lake back to normal levels would still take several weeks. Refilling was expected to last about 30 days, but could take up to 60 days depending on the flow of the Kalamazoo River.
The reservoir refill must not exceed a rate of 6 inches per day while also maintaining steady enough flow in the river downstream, in accordance with permit requirements.
STS is a subsidiary of Eagle Creek Renewable Energy. The company was dealt several violation notices by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy for concerns of high levels of sediment downstream as a result of the spillway gate replacement project.