After 85 years, Michigan's Brooklyn Dam removed in $2m river restoration

For generations, the River Raisin in Brooklyn, Michigan, was a familiar part of everyday life. Children skated across its frozen surface in winter, boats moved through it in summer and residents watched sunsets reflected on the water. Today, that landscape looks dramatically different.After nearly five years of planning, public meetings and construction, water once held behind the Brooklyn Dam has been diverted into a newly shaped river channel, leaving what was once a tall, slow-moving stretch of water as a shallower, faster-flowing stream.The project, which cost about $2 million and was funded through a combination of state and federal grants, is aimed at restoring a more natural river system and reducing the risks associated with the aging dam, according to MLive.From a 21-acre impoundment to a flowing riverThe Brooklyn Dam was built in 1939 and held between roughly 4 and 8 feet of water across about 21 acres.Todd Losee, president…