Just north of the headwaters of the Manistee and Au Sable Rivers, the headwaters of the Pigeon, Sturgeon and Black Rivers begin. These rivers flow northerly from here and eventually converge into the Cheboygan River just before joining Lake Huron at the tip of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.  The Pigeon River lies in between the Sturgeon and Black Rivers and got its name from having been home to huge populations of the now extinct passenger pigeon.  Much of the Pigeon River now flows through well known Pigeon River Country State Forest, also known as the “Big Wild” – home to Michigan’s elk herd and the love of many outdoor recreating Michiganders.  Approximately 1/3 of the way downstream on the Pigeon River is a privately-owned small hydropower dam.  This dam was originally called the Lansing Club Dam and remains labeled as such on most maps.  This dam has more recently been referred to as the Golden Lotus Dam, named after its newer owners – Golden Lotus, Inc.  The original dam constructed at this location failed in 1957 and was rebuilt.  The rebuilt dam failed and released sediment in 1984, and this past June once again malfunctioned and caused a massive sediment release and fish kill.  Three strikes and you’re out

Strike One

The first dam to be located at this spot was constructed sometime during the late 1800’s and was likely used for logging operations.  The Lansing Club organization rebuilt the dam around 1927.  After that time, an entrepreneur from the Detroit area named J. Oliver Black purchased the property and made improvements to the dam.  Mr. Black was the owner of the dam during its failure in 1957.  Heavy rains had fallen on the watershed overnight and were raising water levels in the approximately 60 acre impoundment behind the dam.  A log became impinged on the dam and was preventing water from being released downstream.  Before the log could be removed, water topped the earthen dam and begin eroding it, and eventually led to the washout of the dam and release of water from behind the dam.  The resulting flood was the highest recorded flow on the river, and became too high for the USGS water flow gaging station located downstream to measure.  Sediment was released from the dam, and because it was accompanied by high water flows, resulted in a large amount of river erosion and  sediment being deposited onto the floodplain.  Angling opportunities were lost that summer, and fisheries damage was estimated to have mostly been through a loss of trout spawning in the first few miles downstream of the dam.

Strike Two

In the 1970’s Mr. Black formed Golden Lotus, Inc., an organization for the forwarding of the Yoga discipline.  The property around the dam, approximately 800 acres, was then referred to as the Song of the Morning Ranch, and has people visiting it from around the world for the purpose of practicing Yoga.   It was Golden Lotus Inc. and Mr. Black who owned the dam when in June of 1984 the dam yet again caused damage to the Pigeon River.  This time, the dam was in need of repairs.  The DEQ had authorized the Ranch to lower the water level of the impoundment on a gradual schedule, in order to minimize sediment movement, so that the repairs to the dam could be made.  The owners of the dam ended up lowering the water level faster than the schedule, and the result was a large release of fine organic sediment from behind the dam.  This caused a large scale fish kill on the Pigeon River.  The Michigan Department of Natural Resources estimated that 53% of the trout were lost within the first few miles downstream of the dam, and 30% even much further downstream.  All in all, in the first ~21 miles of river downstream of the dam, an estimated 33,700 trout were estimated to have been lost.

A court dispute followed, in which the State of Michigan, Trout Unlimited and Michigan United Conservation Clubs were parties.  The Ranch was found to be a fault.  Certain conditions were set forth in a court decision to help ensure the dam was kept in safe condition and this type of event did not occur again.  One such clause in the court decision basically stated that if the dam were kept in a nuisance type condition as to cause such an event again, the court could order the dam removed.

Strike Three

On June 22, 2008, almost exactly 24 years after the last dam failure on the Pigeon River, disaster struck again.  It was reported that after one release gate on the dam was opened to release water, another was automatically opened and a large volume of water and fine organic sediment was released into the Pigeon River.  The USGS gaging station located just a few miles downstream recorded a flow of 185 cfs (nearly three times the normal flow of 60 cfs).  Upon discovery of this, both gates were apparently shut and flow in the river was then reduced to just 6 cfs.   The combination of fine organic muck released into the river, and very low flows presumably created conditions difficult for stream trout to survive.  In the days following this event, many dead trout were seen floating in the river, and the water was so turbid that dead fish on the bottom of the stream were not visible.  The MDNR and MDEQ quickly responded to the site and began documenting the extent of the fish kill and gathering water quality measurements.  They had not yet released this data at the time of writing, but indications suggest the fish kill was severe and extensive.

Local Headwaters Chapter of Trout Unlimited President John Walters went to fish the river with his wife on July 23, 2008.  Upon reaching the river they instantly recognized something was horribly wrong.   The water was very low and incredibly black with suspended muck.  They left and drove to a section of river upstream of the dam and found conditions normal and the water clear.  They immediately contacted the local MDNR fisheries biologist.  Since then local TU members have been on the river to observe dead trout floating in the river and have not observed the any of the usual insect hatches.

The Continuous Strike

Dams chronically damage rivers even in the absence of acute catastrophic failure events.  It is well-known and documented in scientific literature that dams fundamentally alter the functioning of river systems.  By their nature, they disrupt the flow of water, sediment, energy, nutrients and living organisms in rivers.  They impound water releasing it at temperatures different from what they should naturally be (most dams release water downstream warmer than it should be, a few larger dams release water colder than natural through “bottom-draw” water releases).  Fine sediment such as sand, silt, and organic material settles out in the impoundments and is not delivered downstream.  This causes drastic changes in habitat conditions for all forms of riverine-evolved organisms.  Nutrient supply and cycling is disrupted, and fish are inhibited from moving throughout a river system and utilizing all of the available habitats they need to fulfill all of their needs (for reproduction, survival and growth).  Even without dam failures, the existence of the dam of the Pigeon River has been limiting the Pigeon River from reaching its fullest potential.

What’s Next

Trout Unlimited, the local chapter, the state council, and the national parent organization have all been involved in this issue since then.  At the state council summer quarterly meeting the following resolution was passed:

“MCTU condemns the actions that led to the excessive water, sediment release and dewatering of the Pigeon River from the Song of Morning pond that resulted in the associated fish kill.  MCTU is authorized to explore remedial and preventative actions to avoid future negative environmental impacts of the Song of the Morning dam, including legal action, in accordance with the legal policies of TUNA.”

Trout Unlimited is actively engaged in investigating legal actions regarding the resolution of this issue, and in ensuring that this repeated problem on the Pigeon River does not occur in the future.  We will share new information on this issue, as it’s available, in future issues of Michigan Trout and on our websites (www.mctu.org and www.headwaterstu.org).  At this time, we encourage members to write to their elected officials encouraging them to have the State Attorney General prosecute this matter to its fullest extent possible (contact information can be found at www.mctu.org/advocacy.html).  Donations to the Pigeon River Restoration Fund can be sent to either the Headwaters Chapter of Trout Unlimited or the Michigan Council of Trout Unlimited.

Pigeon River Dam Failure Update