Jordan Lake Association Newsletter

GOOD SPRING TO ALL

By Mike Cary, President

Or should I say "Good Wet May" once again? As I write this, the Jordan Lake level is at 2.3 feet above the court-mandated summer level. I am sure this is not much of a surprise to most of you, as you look at your garages, streets, and worst of all, for many the water in your homes.

This did not have to get this bad, folks! But… it is that bad, and I would like to explain some of the reasons. Let it be said up-front that the primary reason is inaction over the past few weeks. The lake had been allowed to exceed its mandated summer level, in spite of predicted heavy rains. Basically, had the lake had been kept at or slightly below its summer level there would have been the capacity to hold much of the rain that fell. In addition, prior to the week of 5/17 there was a lot of capacity in the downstream system. A good fact to keep in mind is that, based on the size of Jordan Lake, one (1) inch of water is equal to approximately 12.5 million gallons of water!

Let's think back over the past three weeks. We need to remember that 16,000 acres of Ionia County and 6,000 acres of Barry County drain into Jordan Lake. The first two weeks of the month saw significant rainfall, which filled the lake to well past its mandated summer level and saturated the ground in the upstream watershed. In response, four of the ten dam boards were raised on Friday, May 14. The following Monday (May 17) the four boards were put back down -- in spite of the fact that the lake was still well past the summer level, and in spite of the fact that the National Weather Service was predicting heavy rainfall every day for that week. All of the dam boards remained down until late Wednesday afternoon (May 19). At that time, with the lake one foot above the summer level and after much argument, four boards were raised once again. Too little… too late!

As most of you are aware, there is a second dam just a hundred yards downstream: Brown Road. The culverts under Brown Road do not allow sufficient water flow out of the lake in conditions such as the past week, and four years ago. Even if, and when, the Brown Road culvert situation is corrected, unless there is prudent management of the lake level, flooding will result when weather conditions similar to those of the past two weeks recur.

For the edification of those who are not familiar with the history of the Jordan Lake Dam, a short synopsis. Construction of the dam was the result of a Circuit Court Order in 1958. The Court Order also established a summer lake level to be maintained from May 15th through October 31st of 811.0 feet above mean sea level datum, and a winter lake level of 810.0 between November 1st through May 14th.

The Order further authorized the construction, operation and maintenance of the dam by appropriate parties from each of the two counties; Barry and Ionia. It was determined at that time that the Drain Commissioners would be the authorized operators of the dam.

The current dam has ten removable boards, or gates, which measure 64" x 12". Of the ten, eight are removed each fall to lower the lake to the mandated winter level. The procedure is reversed each spring. The Drain Commissioners have long held the "once the boards are in-place for the summer season, they cannot move them until the fall." There is nothing I read in the Court Order that specifically restricts them from pulling some, or all, of the boards in times of high water. This practice may be the part of the order which allows the dam operators to employ procedures to maintain the normal height. It must be noted that no written procedures exist for maintaining the mandated lake levels. The Order itself does not appear to restrict them in any manner, other than the requirement to maintain the mandated levels. It is difficult to understand their reluctance to remove boards during times of high water levels. Their inaction may very well be violation of the Order, since the lake levels at times well exceeded the mandated 811.0 feet.

So, here we are once again -- four years and one day later. The question is: are we going to let it happen again? Unless Noah appears on the horizon, with proper planning and consistent operation of the dam through a review of weather conditions past and future, we can prevent flooding of the magnitude of the past few years. However -- we need to begin now to prevent a repeat next year, or four years from now, or whenever...

In that regard my wife, Marge, and I are personally contacting an attorney to explore remedies to the current situation. I am sure that many of you may be interested in doing something similar. But we feel that this cannot wait until we get a consensus on action. I am sure in time the Barry County Road Commission will do something about the Brown Road situation, but remedying that will do very little for the potential for lake flooding without major changes in the manner of operation of the dam.

A General Meeting of the Jordan Lake Association is set for June 26. Between now and then, many of the legal steps anticipated may well be in motion, and will be detailed as part of the meeting.

I think that I speak for all by saying that we love Jordan Lake, our homes, our cottages, the people and the wonderful times. We all have a substantial investment in our lake property as well. But if Jordan Lake becomes known as a location that floods regularly, our property values will decline, and rapidly. If we are proactive, however, in our pursuit of flood control measures, the condition of our homes and cottages will be maintained, and the value of our property will continue to rise.

TREASURER'S REPORT

A formal Treasurer's Report for the Association will be presented at the General Membership Meeting on June 26.

Association dues for 2004 are due June 1, 2004. Dues are only $10.00 per family. Please make your checks

payable to JORDAN LAKE ASSOCIATION and mail to:

Katy Estes

849 Beech Street

Lake Odessa, MI 48849

Every property owner on Jordan Lake should be a member of the JLA — give your voice persuasion!

NOTE: Anyone interested in contributing financial help towards legal remedies regarding the dam and flood control, make check to Jordan Lake Association and mail to Katy. Any amount will be helpful, and greatly appreciated!

"THE OTHER JORDAN LAKE DAM"

Regardless of the outcome of the legal remedies sought concerning the operation of the dam, Brown Road and its three inadequate culverts remain. We, as Jordan Lake residents, need to immediately begin lobbying our respective County Commissioners for a span-type bridge project for Brown Road across the Little Thornapple River.

At this time, such a project is at best number three on the Barry County Road Commission’s list.

Please contact your county commissioner and ask him to seek prioritization for this project.

Ionia County:

Commissioner James Banks

1140 Jordan Lake Road

Lake Odessa, MI 48849

(616) 374-0844

Barry County:

Commissioner Jeffery MacKenzie

5598 Velte Road

Woodland, Mi 48897

(616) 367-4732

JORDAN LAKE ASSOCIATION INFO

JLA DISTRICT REPRESENTATIVES

District 1 Mike Reed & Bill Walker

District 2 Steve Schuiling & Don Acker

District 3 Katy Estes

District 4 Norm Klein & Mike Cary

District 5 Dave Creguer & Gary Calkins

OFFICERS

President Mike Cary

Vice President Bill Walker

Secretary Steve Schuiling

Treasurer Katy Estes

POSTAL MAIL ADDRESS

Jordan Lake Association

849 Beech Street

Lake Odessa, MI 48849

WEB SITE

http://www.lakeo.org/jla/

The Lake Association needs another representative for District 3. This district includes Beech, Maple and Outland Shores Drive. Any volunteers?