A reservoir in the Pigeon River Country State Forest will soon be drained to restore a dam.
After more than a year of uncertainty of whether to replace or remove the Cornwall Creek Flooding Dam, water levels will be lowered by six feet to prep the dam for repairs.
Chris Engle is with Huron Pines, a local nonprofit that will be coordinating the project. He said the drawdown will start Aug. 12 and take place gradually over 90 days.
"As the water line recedes, more bottomland will be exposed. It gets muddy and slippery and what not," Engle said. "People will still be able to go to the flooding, but they really need to be careful as the water goes down."
After the drawdown, Engle said the area will remain drained until the high-hazard dam is fixed, but he said there's no set timeline for construction.
"The fundraiser that is still underway, but we are getting really close to our goal — that is going toward the repairs of the dam and the construction of a new water control structure," Engle said. "Once that would be done, the flooding would be raised back up to its current levels."
