Mich. Comp. Laws § 486.15

Sec. 15. The board of directors are also authorized, in case they deem it expedient for the safety and well-being of the property under their control, to employ a competent watchman to watch during the night to see that the canal or its appurtenances receive no injury from breaks in embankments or other causes; and they may prescribe his duties and fix his compensation, and raise means to pay the same in the manner hereinbefore provided.