Toston Dam is a hydroelectric

gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

located on the Missouri River in

Broadwater County, Montana Broadwater County is a county in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,774. Its county seat is Townsend. The county was named for Charles Arthur Broadwater, a noted Montana railroad, real estate, and banking ma ...

. The dam is long and high, and generates 10

megawatts The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wat ...

of power.Water Projects Bureau, p. 1.
The dam is a "run-of-the-river" dam because it can generate electricity without needing to store additional water supplies behind the dam.

Construction

The dam is named after the town of Toston, Montana, which is just away. A $1.12 million dam was originally proposed in 1935. This project never was built. A smaller dam, whose construction would cost $900,000, was proposed in 1938, and the Montana State Water Conservation Board sought Public Works Administration funds to help construct the dam. This effort proved successful, and the federal agency gave the state $820,000 to build the dam."Big Toston Dam Money Allocated." ''Three Forks News.'' August 4, 1938.
/ref> The project was the second-most-expensive hydro effort in the state at the time (only the Tongue River Dam, which cost $1.2 million, was larger). The dam was built on a natural ridge of rock which ran perpendicular to the Missouri River on a point about above Big Spring. An inlet gate was built slightly upstream of the dam which connected to an underground pipeline that exited the ground downstream and connected to an irrigation canal running eastward. A ditch diverted water on the west down a canal for more irrigation purposes. About of

Northern Pacific Railroad The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly of land grants, whi ...

track was moved and raised to prevent it from being inundated by the Toston Reservoir. The dam was completed 1940.

Operation

Toston Dam is owned and operated by the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC). The dam includes inflatable Flashboards made of rubber at the crest of the dam, which can be used to raise the dam's height slightly (so that more water may be retained). Toston Reservoir, behind the dam, has a storage capacity of of water. About of land are irrigated by the dam. Toston Dam originally did not generate power. But in 1979, the Montana state legislature passed a bill which would have allowed a state rural electrical cooperative to install generators at the dam.Moes, Garry J. "Hydro Hunt: Power Play Fails." ''Spokane Spokesman-Review.'' June 7, 1980.
/ref> Governor Thomas Judge vetoed the bill, and the DNRC installed the generators instead. The agency's sole purpose was to generate revenues which it could then use to fund other projects throughout the state. Despite opposition, the agency went ahead in December 1982 with its $23 million plan to install a generating plant. But the power plant did not go online until 1989. Toston Dam generates approximately $900,000 a year in net revenues for the DNRC, which it uses to maintain other state-owned recreation, irrigation, and flood-control projects. Major upgrades have occurred at Toston Dam in the past several years. A $26 million refurbishment in 1989 added the power plant, the inflatable flashboards, and improvements to maintenance and access roads. In 2002, the state spent $450,000 installing automatic "rakes" along the crest of the dam to clear debris. The rakes prevent damage to the dam, and helped to greatly reduce the number of times the power plant had to be shut down in order to clean the penstocks. In 2005, a bridge was built over the crest of the dam to give maintenance workers access to the dam face and to give the public access to the east side of the river.

Conservation issues

Toston Dam is threatened with environmental degradation due to invasive species. In 2009, the

Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MFWP) is a government agency in the executive branch state of Montana in the United States with responsibility for protecting sustainable fish, wildlife, and state-owned park resources in Montan ...

(FWP) warned that the reservoir had been invaded by

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are known simply as a p ...

which had escaped from private ponds upstream. Northern pike are an aggressive predatory fish which feed on trout and other species highly prized by fishermen. A year later, the state sought approval to remove the limit on daily catches of northern pike to protect several trout species, which had come under severe pressure from the pike. In April 2011, the pike problem became so severe that the FWP announced an even more aggressive plan to try to remove the predatory fish from Toston Reservoir and other upstream waters.Byron, Eve. "FWP Seeks to Remove Northern Pike From Missouri Headwaters." ''Helena Independent Record.'' April 10, 2011. In 2010, FWP officials announced that non-native milfoil had invaded Toston Reservoir and Fort Peck Dam Reservoir."Noxious Milfoil Found in Missouri River at Toston, Fort Peck." ''Belgrade News.'' August 24, 2010. Milfoil is classified by the state of Montana as a Priority 1B noxious weed, one of the highest priority invasive species.

Footnotes

Bibliography

*Water Projects Bureau. "Toston Dam (Broadwater-Missouri). Fact Sheet." Water Resources Division. Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. No date. {{MissouriRiverDams Dams completed in 1940 Energy infrastructure completed in 1940 Energy infrastructure completed in 1989 Hydroelectric power plants in Montana Dams in Montana Dams on the Missouri River Buildings and structures in Cascade County, Montana Run-of-the-river power stations United States state-owned dams 1940 establishments in Montana