A Letter From FLTF President

Six Years of Restoration

Yesterday marked six years since Edenville Dam failed, Sanford Dam was overtopped, and Secord and Smallwood lakes were ordered to be lowered. Yesterday also marked a major milestone as we secured the second series of bonds totaling $80,285,000 with an effective interest rate of 5.73 percent. We are tracking to complete the project significantly under the planned not-to-exceed amount of $217.7 million. If this is the case, a refund will be issued to property owners when construction concludes in 2028 (read more below).

If you've been staying up to date with FLTF and our communications over the last six years, you will know we have made unprecedented progress in restoring the dams and lakes. Recovering/rebuilding four dams in coordination with environmental agencies, local government, property owners, and the communities is no small feat but thanks to the tireless efforts of our elected officials, volunteers, staff and contractors we are on our way to full restoration.

We recently published a monthly construction progress report where we shared that Sanford Lake returned to its normal legal lake level early this month. Secord and Smallwood dams are expected to be substantially complete in the coming months. Significant progress has been made on Edenville Dam, and it is on schedule to be substantially complete in September of 2027.

We secured financing, are fully permitted, and, most importantly, we have a team in place with tenacity to get this done. We acknowledge that some people did want to restore the lakes or pay for restoration, but we followed the laws outlined under Part 307 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act and maintained transparency throughout the process. It's reassuring to know the four lakes will be here for generations to come.

We are focused not only on repairing/rebuilding the dams, but also on restoring quality of life for property owners and ensuring we can maintain and improve this system into the future. We remain focused on safely and efficiently bringing the other three dams and lakes back and restoring the surrounding natural environment so we can enjoy the lakes long into the future. The FLTF team, and I personally, are committed to seeing this project through, including achieving stable operations. This fanciful fiction that we are done at Sanford so we are taking our foot off the gas, is nonsense.

This is a community-wide effort. The Four Lakes system is one hydrologically and hydraulically linked system, but it’s also a community-linked system. There are a lot of dedicated people I have come to meet throughout this journey, and I am appreciative of the thousands of people who have played a part in getting the Four Lakes to where they are today and continue to help us get it done.

Thank you for your continued support in our mission.

Sincerely,

Dave Kepler

President, Four Lakes Task Force

Apply Today

Shoreline Restoration Project Cost Share Program

As part of the dam restoration permitting, FLTF has set aside $400,000 to assist property owners with natural shoreline project implementation on private property. Projects must be natural shoreline projects - seawall repair, seawall replacement and traditional riprap stabilization will not be eligible for grant funding. This funding has a cost-share requirement with the property owner. A maximum award per project will be set based on interest in the program to provide funding for as many projects as possible.

Upcoming in-person trainings (listed below) will educate attendees on the grant program and include examples of which projects would qualify. We encourage anyone interested in the grant program to attend the training to learn more. 

The application submittal will remain open until all funds have been spent. 

Click the button below to fill out and submit your shoreline restoration project application.