The 24/7 Crew at the Safety of Dams National Monitoring Center was recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs for practicing their 24/7 moniker 365 days a year throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. From left to right: Nygel Matt, Rebecca Phillips, Kyle Schock, Loretta Hoots and Bryanna Steele. Not pictured are, Molly Auld, Nick Quequesah, Ambrose Cook-Saloway, Robert Farrow and Holly Burland.
Char-Koosta News
RONAN — On guard 24 hours a day, seven days a week all year long. That is the charge of the staff at the Bureau of Indian Affairs Safety of Dams National Monitoring Center (NMC) in Ronan. The quaint one story building across the street from the Boys and Girls Club that houses the NMC seems to shade the importance of what goes on inside.
The 24/7 Crew, as they are referred to, currently monitors 141 dams on 40 Indian Reservations in various regions nationwide. In the Northwest Region 24/7 crew monitors 26 dams; Rocky Mountain Region, seven; Great Plains Region, 31; Midwest Region, one; Eastern Region, two; Southwest Region, 29; Navajo Region, 14 Dams; Pacific Region, two; Western Region, 29.
There are 12 BIA dams on the Flathead Reservation and two just off that are monitored by the NMC. The on-Rez are: Upper Dry Fork, Lower Dry Fork, Pablo, Ninepipe, Hell Roaring, Twin (Turtle) Lake, Kicking Horse, McDonald, Mission, Tabor, Black Lake, and Jocko dams. Little Bitterroot and Hubbart dams are just north off the reservation. When the reconstruction of Crow Dam is completed, it will be added to the list of monitored dams.
And for monitoring that without skipping a beat throughout the COVID-19 mogul-speedbumps the NMC 24/7 Crew was recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Safety of Dams Bureau with a Certificate of Appreciation for a job well done.
“We acknowledge the past two years with the COVID-19 pandemic have been difficult, presenting unique challenges to everyone. Though this time, the National Monitoring Center has maintained consistent and reliable monitory and notification support [24 hours a day, seven days a week] for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Safety of Dams Branch,” stated Rodney Eisenbraun, BIA Safety of Dams Branch chief, in. a press release. “The National Monitoring Center staff has continued working in-person with other emergency personnel through the pandemic, being flexible with shifts, social distancing, and masking to keep the call center operational.”
NMC supervisor Loretta Hoots concurs with the BIA Safety of Dams assessment of the 24/7 Crew.
“While the stress level was high, the staff was extremely vigilant in preventing the pandemic from taking us down. Wearing masks, disinfecting work stations including the entire workspace, and social distancing as much as they could in a small space,” Hoots said. “This staff went nearly 24-months without a single case of COVID-19.”
Hoots was the hands on the wheel driving home with constant reminders to the staff to exercise the now common lexicon of the safe measures of hand washing, mask wearing and staying home when sick.
“We didn’t have an alternative plan if the pandemic struck and took us down. It’s not as if you can just shut down, with the responsibility we have. We can’t just forward our phones, or leave a message on voicemail,” Hoots said. “We are responsible for people’s lives. Mission Valley Power depends on us to dispatch for them during their off hours. We don’t have off hours.”
The NMC 24/7 Crew comprised of Jamesina “Molly” Auld, Holly Burland, Ambrose Cook-Saloway, Robert Farrow, Nygel Matt, Rebecca Phillips, Nicolas Quequesah, Kyle Schock, Bryanna Steele and Loretta Hoots received Certificates of Appreciation for “outstanding achievement and dedication in work” with the 24/7/365 coverage at the National Monitoring Center during the pandemic.
“My staff is dedicated, and that showed. I couldn’t be prouder of how vigilant they are. I wouldn’t ask them to do something, I myself am not willing to do. I worked right along with them. Supporting them in every way I could,” Hoots said. “It was and is still stressful with new variants coming out. We still practice the mantra of masking up, washing our hands, sanitizing our work areas, and social distancing. This is what has prevented us from being taken down. We can’t afford to be shut down.”
The NMC Early Warning System (EWS) provides real-time remote monitoring of reservoir levels, stream levels, and rainfall at dam sites, which can provide information for the early detection of flooding and other conditions that could lead to dam failure. It also monitors earthquake activity at its monitoring sites, and provides after-hours emergency dispatch for Mission Valley Power, and Tribal Fish and Game.
The NMC EWS is built upon the integrated real-time monitoring instrumentation, telemetry and centralized enterprise data collection services infrastructure. All the data coming in are automatically processed, analyzed and disseminated in real time. Alarms events are triggered based on advanced customized rules and the system automatically generates and sends out early warning notifications with Emergency Action Plan procedures to alert emergency personnel of possible hazardous and flood-threatening conditions.
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Originally Appeared Here