Bay City responds to flooding threat in Great Lakes

By Michael Piwowarski

BAY CITY — Record high water levels in Michigan’s Great Lakes are causing major worries for communities along the state’s 3,288 miles of shoreline, including Bay City.

The city board of commissioners have thus voted unanimously, at their Feb. 3 meeting, to support the declaration of Michigan’s shoreline as a disaster area.

“Due to high water levels the City of Bay City has experienced excessive infrastructure damage to our riverfront, parks and water and sewer,” the city’s official report reads.

The report further details that the city has undergone four severe weather events since June 2019, causing extensive flooding along the riverfront. The report says this has led to “unprecedented” damage as well as storm drain failures and street sinkholes. The city has repeatedly been forced to close down boat launches, parks and streets as a result.

In response, the city is joining surrounding communities — including nearby Bangor Township — in requesting Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer’s declaration of the Michigan shorelines as a disaster area.

In turn, the governor would request federal assistance from the U.S. House of Representatives and the president.

“It’s asking for federal aid to have boots on the ground, you know, to help us and also to have funds to come to our area,” says city manager Dana Muscott. “You also have to remember, too, that obviously we have a huge shoreline around the entire state of Michigan, so all the communities are doing this, so we will have one united voice to ask for help.”

MLive.com reported in August 2019 that depths in the lakes’ record high water levels range from 14 inches to nearly three feet higher than average, causing water tables to lift even in inland communities.

“We have a summer place up north […] four blocks from Lake Michigan and our beach is gone; our little sunset station park is pretty much going by the way of the lake,” says mayor Kathleen Newsham.

This problem has been attributed to heavy precipitation during the winter and spring seasons, as well as climate change.

“It’s hurting people all over the state that have, you know, water in their communities, especially the Great Lakes,” says Newsham.

In Bangor Township, sandbags are being used to help keep flooding at bay, but as Muscott elaborates, that would not work in the city.

“Here, we’re not able to [use sand bags] because it comes right over the wall,” says Muscott. “It doesn’t help us with our boat launch, it doesn’t help us with our Riverwalk.”

Muscott hopes that aid from the federal government would help with ideas and planning for fixing their infrastructure. 

The city plans on submitting their request to governor Whitmer on Thursday. From there, they wait to hear back on approval. At this time, there is no specific timeframe on when the state government will act.