Tools

Ennis Lake dropping after boulder damages dam

Story Created: Sep 1, 2010 at 10:00 AM MST

Story Updated: Sep 2, 2010 at 5:00 AM MST

BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — Ennis Lake's water level is dropping after a boulder the size of a school bus crushed a 30-foot wide section of the Madison Dam.

Officials say the boulder fell from a cliff early Monday onto three spill gates, though the damage appears to be relatively minor.

PPL Montana says water has been slowly draining from the lake since, but the boulder is actually blocking even more water from flowing through the damaged spill gates.

PPL Montana engineers have begun releasing more water to ease pressure on the boulder and to allow engineers to gauge the damage.

PPL Montana says the lake's level is expected to drop by about 5 feet by late Wednesday. The lake may eventually be drawn down 9 feet, which would allow a full inspection.

The lake is outside of Ennis, which is about 50 miles southwest of Bozeman.

Add a comment

Name:

Comment: 1000 Characters Left

News, Sports, Weather for Great Falls, Helena, and all of Montana and its affiliated companies are not responsible for the content of comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the above comments or other interaction among the users. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any Public Forum.

Great Falls & Helena Weather

Icon
Great Falls Great Falls Intl Airport, MT
Current Temp 37.0 °F
Overcast
Wind : Southwest at 10.4 MPH (9 KT)
Pressure : 1011.3 mb
Humidity : 62 %
Icon
Helena Helena Regional, MT
Current Temp 23.0 °F
Overcast
Wind : Calm
Pressure : 1015.6 mb
Humidity : 81 %
Click here for our video forecast
More Weather
This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.

AP Video