New sensors in Beaver Creek Reservoir discussed in meeting

Hill County Commissioner Mark Peterson and representatives from Great West Engineering as well as M.E.T. Automation & Controls met in Beaver Creek Park to discuss putting new sensors in Beaver Creek Reservoir to help better manage water levels and provide data to people who may need it.

At the meeting, the group discussed the kind of sensors to install and what the potential costs of the project might be.

Peterson said things are still in the early planning stages and no solid plans have been implemented yet.

"These guys are just here to give us a jump start on what we think we need, and what we want to do, then it will go out to bid," Peterson said.

During the meeting, he said many organizations including the National Weather Service often call to get water level data on the lake and one of the goals of the proposed project is to make that data easier to obtain and distribute.

"Tim (Herron, the Beaver Creek Dam manager) gets calls from time to time, from all over the country, if we can eliminate that need so that if somebody wants it, it's there," he said.

Peterson said the level of the data's availability is still an open question.

"Do we want it to go into DNRC's (web)site, do we want to keep it private to ourselves," he said.

Peterson said this data has application for recreation and general ecosystem management as well.

"That's what we're trying to do, so Tim can manage the lake and keep it at a higher level for recreation and irrigation, and yet not risk the overflow on the emergency spillway," he said.

He also said the sensors could help prevent flooding in the Milk River.

"It's still a management tool that's beneficial for potential flooding in Havre or going into the Milk River and downstream to the other towns down there, you know Blaine County, Philips County, Valley County, we're the beginning of most of the water flow into the river," Peterson said.

He said weather is a factor that needs to be considered when managing the lake's water levels and these sensors will help make that easier.

"According the manuals, they want this lake 14 feet below spillway, but what happens if you have a dry year, you don't fill it back up," he said, "It allows us to do better management."

Managing water levels amidst fickle weather was also a concern of Herron's.

"11 inches of rain over three days will bite you ... every time," Herron said during the meeting.

Peterson also said winter weather can make the placement of the sensors more difficult.

"One of the issues we deal with is, when there is ice on top, you can't have a float, so whatever it is will have to be under water... we'll try to figure out where that can be and how it can communicate," he said.

The group also discussed whether the sensors would have direct interfaces which would make data visible on a screen but could be potentially expensive. No decisions were made at the meeting regarding these details.

"We're just trying to figure out logistics right now," Peterson said.