Corunna, MI - After decades of decay, the Corunna dam will be removed and the Shiawassee River restored, thanks to grants from the State of Michigan, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the privately-funded Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network (WIN). Work is expected to start this summer.

The City of Corunna received a $301,500 grant from the Michigan of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in the beginning of 2016, and was also awarded a $33,500 grant from US Fish and Wildlife Service.  With this funding in hand, the City has sufficient resources to remove the remnants of a dam that has troubled the community for several years.  

In December of 2016, Corunna got notice of a $288,600 grant from the Michigan Natural Trust Fund to make recreational improvements at, around, and near the dam site.  These include a walkway along the westside of the river, creation of fishing opportunities, an accessible kayak launch, and parking lot upgrades. Taken together these grants will transform the obsolete and dangerous dam into a community asset.

The dam has also been a barrier to small boat passage with no good opportunity for portage. Dam removal and replacement with a passable riffle section will further support a future national river trail designation for the Shiawassee.  Work is expected to be undertaken in 2017.