BISMARCK – Four low head dam projects on the Souris River in Minot and a project in McLean County have been approved for funding assistance by the North Dakota Water Commission and the Department of Water Resources.

The water commission and department announced cost-share assistance for seven low head dam mitigation projects aimed at enhancing public safety and reducing drowning hazards associated with downstream roller effects. These projects were approved at the commission’s meeting Thursday in Bismarck.

Funding will go to construction projects at Katz Dam on Painted Woods Creek in McLean County, with an allocation of $136,466, and for the four projects in Minot, totaling $1.1 million. Other low head dam approvals were pre-construction cost-share for projects on the Maple and Wild Rice rivers in eastern North Dakota, amounting to $178,875 and $209,625, respectively.

“The Water Commission and Department of Water Resources have made it a point of emphasis to encourage and incentivize low head dam owners across the state to implement roller effect mitigation projects,” said Department of Water Resources Director Andrea Travnicek. “The SWC will provide up to 75% cost-share assistance for those types of projects. We’ve seen real progress toward low head dam mitigation efforts statewide in recent years, and we will continue to work with local political subdivisions and cost share partners to address them.”