CORWITH TOWNSHIP — Staff with the state departments of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and Natural Resources (DNR) will come together later this week to discuss an action plan for the Pigeon River and the dam which caused a fish kill last week.

    A private dam operated by Song of the Morning Ranch on Sturgeon Valley Road, east of Vanderbilt, malfunctioned the night of June 13, allowing a heavy flow of water along with black silt into the river, killing fish and clouding the water. A DNR official indicated “better operation of dams or going to more natural systems” is favored by the department, though he did not discuss any options being considered.

    DNR fisheries staff continued surveying the river for signs of trout life Tuesday morning, trying to determine whether the fish had moved out of the impacted area or were simply wiped out by a release of silt the night of June 13. Survey results so far — along with riverbanks littered with dead fish — are pointing to a significant fish kill.

    “What we’ve seen so far in those areas we’ve shocked (used electrical current to stun fish), the trout populations are well below what we’d normally find,” said Dave Borgeson, DNR Fisheries supervisor for the Northern Lake Huron Management Unit. “Whether they died or moved out, that’s what we’re trying to determine.”

    Borgeson added a survey of the 1 1/2-mile stretch of river between the dam and Sturgeon Valley Road produced no brown trout.

    “That’s just not normal,” he said.

    Surveys further downstream to find higher populations of fish where displaced trout may have relocated also turned up a lower than normal fish count, according to Borgeson.

    The DEQ is still investigating the incident, where the dam’s automatic system reportedly malfunctioned overnight, opening a gate almost completely and allowing sediment from an impoundment to flow into the river. Normal river flow is around 65 cubic feet per second (cfs); the river spiked at around 180 cfs at midnight June 14. Ranch staff observed the impoundment draining and manually closed the dam completely, dropping flow to 6 cfs, before gradually returning flow to normal.

    Song of the Morning Ranch — a yoga retreat owned by Golden Lotus, a nonprofit organization — is permitted to operate the dam to generate electricity for its own use. The dam is not federally regulated.

    Ranch general manager Ian Wylie said Tuesday the Golden Lotus board will convene at the ranch this weekend to discuss the situation, adding a decision on the future of the dam would be up to the board.

    Dam operations have returned to normal and the water flowing into the river appears clear.

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