Montana has 3,500 inventoried dams and possibly as many as 10,000 if stock ponds are included, reports the state's Dam Safety Program concerned with the quality of the structures.
Although most of those dams are too small or remote to endanger human life if they fail, it is important that owners know how to inspect, maintain and operate them, says Michele Lemieux, DSP manager and a civil engineer with Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.
In a quest to provide dam owners with safety training, the DNRC has hired the Montana Watercourse at Montana State University to organize free workshops that will target the owners of small dams.
Dark dots indicate Montana dams considered unsafe, while light dots locate dams of little danger to human life if they fail.
While other sessions will be posted, the first such seminar is set for Aug. 3 in Kalispell at the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks headquarters, 490 N. Meridian Road.
An Aug. 16 class is scheduled in Billings at the Northern Plains Resource Council, 220 South 27th St.
Both sessions will be held from 11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., and include free lunches.
To reserve a spot, call (406) 994-6671, or e-mail mtwatercouse@montana.edu.
Additional courses will be held in the fall, but have not yet been scheduled. The above contact information serves as a source to find out about these autumn sessions.