Latest reading shows Michigan's Cheboygan River rising again near dam

CHEBOYGAN, Mich. ― Levels of the Cheboygan River began to rise again Friday night, and after lowering much of the day as workers were able to reactiviate a turbine inside the hydroelectric dam at the Cheboygan Lock and Dam Complex that had been offline for years.

As the hydroelectric plant restarted earlier Friday, the river fell to 6.48 inches below the top of the dam at 12:45 p.m. Eastern time, then to 7.08 inches by 2:30 p.m., and 7.32 inches by 3:30 p.m., but started rising again as of 7 p.m., to 6.96 inches. It was nearly a 2-inch improvement from the mark of 5.16 inches at 8:45 a.m. Friday, according to the Michigan State Police Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division.

"They're expected to fluctuate further as water moves into the basin from upstream. Consumers Energy, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, state agencies and other contractors worked long hours to reopen the powerhouse," read a post from the Michigan State Police's Emergency Management and Homeland Security division on Facebook on Friday night.

An early Friday morning reading of 5.16 inches showed the water level was down about 0.24 inches since the last measurement of 4.92 inches early Thursday evening.

Richard Hill of the DNR's Incident Management Team said in a statement that restarting the turbines at the Cheboygan Dam Hydroelectric Powerhouse "was technical and exacting, involving rewiring circuits, testing machinery that has been idle for years and connecting the power station to the grid."

Officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, said in a statement earlier Friday on Facebook that they were working with the state police's emergency management division, along with Consumers Energy and the dam's private owner, to restart the hydroelectric plant's turbine and return it to full capacity.

"This is intended to help move water through the dam," they said. "We are also working with dam safety partners across the state to assess watershed impacts and support the evaluation and modeling of dams in Cheboygan County."

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called the initial declining river levels great news on Friday and said the turbine was already making "a big difference."

"Thank you to the crews who have been working 24/7 this week to restart the hydroelectric turbine, which hadn't been operational for a few years," Whitmer said in a post on X. "Their heroic actions are already making a big difference to lower water levels."

Friday's earlier water level drop was the first decline in six days. State officials alerted the public about the dam emergency on April 10 when the river was 18 inches below the dam's top. It then fell 2 inches to 20 inches below cresting on Saturday before starting five consecutive days of rising levels.

Residents were buoyed by the restarting of the hydroelectric turbine. The water level at the Cheboygan Dam had already dipped before the machinery came online."That's good news for a change," said Patti Stone of Cheboygan. "We needed to hear something good."

Stone's home was safe from flooding, but she said she knows people who live along the Cheboygan River and worried about businesses located downriver from the dam.Vicki Alexander of Cheboygan said she's been worried for days about the impact of a cresting dam on the city of more than 4,800 residents.

The city's downtown is directly downriver from the structure."It's a sitting duck. I mean, the city would be underwater," Alexander said.

The seawalls armoring the riverbanks downriver of the dam would help to contain some of the water, and any flooding over those seawalls would crest at 2 feet in a limited area around the river, Department of Natural Resources senior engineer Michelle Crook said earlier this week. The earlier dropping water level, the hydro dam coming back to life and the 70-degree day put Alexander in a better frame of mind."It's beautiful out," she exclaimed. "If the water keeps falling, everything will be perfect."

Friday's initial falling river levels came after the turbine inside the Cheboygan dam hadn't been operational for three years because of an ownership dispute. Requested upgrades by federal regulators weren't made.

The Cheboygan Dam's spillway and lock structure is owned by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, which uses it to control water levels on the Cheboygan River and connected upstream waterways.

But the DNR does not own the hydroelectric equipment on-site that was previously used to generate power from the river's flow.

The ownership of the equipment is in dispute in a local court, but federal energy regulators say Hom Paper XI LLC is responsible for it. The hydropower equipment hasn't operated since the adjacent Great Lakes Tissue Company caught fire in 2023.

For several days, residents and businesses downriver from the Cheboygan Dam have been worried about flooding.

On Friday, it was the upriver folks' turn to fret.

The Alverno Dam, which is located southeast of Cheboygan, is bracing for a surge of water over the next few days, said the state police's emergency management and homeland security division.

The state agency encouraged residents living along the Cheboygan and Black rivers to pack essential items and be prepared to evacuate.

Belle Jackson of Alverno didn't have to be told twice. She lives along the Black River."I'm packed up and ready to go," Jackson said, standing next to her Chevy Impala laden with clothes and bursting plastic bags. "I'm not going to wait for the water coming through my door."

Watching day after day news accounts of the Cheboygan Dam possibly overflowing, she had plenty of time to think about what she would do in a similar situation.Then she heard about the Alverno Dam, and the theory became plausible."You hope for the best and plan for the worst," Jackson said.

Equally philosophical was Janice Charles of Alverno, who also lives near the Black River.

She wasn't as well prepared as Jackson, but said she was ready to go at a moment's notice.

"You hope it doesn't happen, but what are you going to do?" Charles asked. "If you have to get out, you have to get out."

She began moving some of her most valuable items, including a family scrapbook, to her mother's home away from the river.If worst comes to worst, she'll join the items at her mom's.

"It's a tight fit, but we'll make it work," Charles said about the living accommodations. "What else are you going to do?"

Heavy spring rainfall and lingering melt-off of winter snow and inland lake ice have left much of Michigan's northern Lower Peninsula awash in water this week, wreaking havoc on up north roadways.

Multiple roadways and small bridges were washed away by floodwaters from Grand Traverse County on Lake Michigan to Presque Isle County on Lake Huron in the northeast Lower Peninsula.

Whitmer has placed the entire state under an energy emergency as some residents in northern Michigan have been urged to evacuate amid flooding that could worsen.

Flooding in rivers, creeks, lakes, field drains and ditches is being reported across Alcona, Alpena, Arenac, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Crawford, Emmet, Iosco, Kalkaska, Leelanau, Manistee, Missaukee, Montmorency, Ogemaw, Oscoda, Otsego, Presque Isle, Roscommon and Wexford counties.

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This story was originally published April 17, 2026 at 11:15 PM.