Big pump employed to cure water woes

BARRY TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Residents along a Barry County lake have spent the last several months having a lot more lake than they like.

The waters of Crooked Lake in Delton have been flooding basements, washing away roads and threatening homes. But starting Thursday evening, a massive pump has been carrying at least some of the water away.

For many Crooked Lake neighbors, this is what they’ve been wanting all along since the flooding began this spring. Just pump the water somewhere else.

But officials with the county and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality say it wasn’t that easy.

For Deb and Gary Englehardt, who have had their little home by the lake flooded for far too long, the sound of thousands of gallons of water being sucked out of the lake is music to their ears.

“I am absolutely thrilled, I have been over watching the water gush,” said Deb Englehardt  

For reasons still not completely clear, Crooked Lake has been overflowing its banks since the snow melted.

“Just a lot of factors that go into it,” said Barry County Drain Commissioner Jim Dull. He said development, changes in drainage in other parts of the county and the building of roads are among the factors that impact the lake level. “One and one and one and one and suddenly you’re at 12 too many.”

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