TEXAS TOWNSHIP, Mich. — More rain is falling on Eagle Lake, not helping the flooding situations brought on by recent rains.
The water levels are starting threaten homes on the lake and causing some mandatory evacuations, leaving residents to wait and see what can be done to prevent further loss.
But residents see some help coming from the Kalamazoo County Road Commission, which is setting up more layers on North Eagle Lake Drive to allow those that are stuck by the high waters to finally get out.
A plan to remove excess water has been in the works since 2017 when flooding was first seen on Eagle Lake. After jumping through several hoops, including filtering out zebra mussels, Texas Township is close to getting things done.
“A short-term solution was to connect the two lakes by pipes, Eagle Lake and Crooked Lake, and try to get the water to a natural outlet," said Julie VanderWiere, Texas Township superintendent. "The closest natural outlet is Bass Lake.
"We needed to have the water pumped from the two lakes into Bass Lake and then from the outlet there at Bass Lake, it will go down and eventually make its way into the Kalamazoo River and then into Lake Michigan.”
The township hopes to receive the equipment and pumps the week of May 20. They hope to have everything installed and ready to run the last week in May.
Once the pumping begins, it will take about 18 months to get the lakes to the adequate levels.
