The Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan is expressing concerns about a drawdown at the dam at Lake Isabella.

The Lake Isabella Property Owners Association wants to open the dam to draw down the water level by four feet. The tribe is worried the release of water will negatively impact Chippewa River, which runs through the reservation.

"Degradation of Tribal waters is unacceptable and should be avoided," Carey Paquette, the tribe's water specialist, wrote in a letter to the association, The Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun reported. "Negative impacts to the water quality of Tribal waters will be taken seriously in the event of improper management of this drawdown."

Specifically, the tribe says the water from the dam could lower the oxygen level in the river, increase sediment in the river and harm fishing grounds.

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Tribe worried over impact of Lake Isabella drawdown (The Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun 10/21)