"It would've taken out a fairly large business that is below the dam. It would've crossed Highway 54, potentially taking out portions of Highway 54, if not taking it out, certainly disrupting traffic, potential loss of life and obviously a lot of property damage."

Ellingner says the Missouri Department of Natural Resources does not have any regulations on dams smaller than 35 feet tall. He says a majority of the dams in Cole County and in Mid-Missouri are not that high. Renn's Lake's dam is about 30 feet tall. Ellingner makes it clear that these dams are private and the DNR is not in charge of maintaining them. He says local officials will have to see what they want to do to keep them in safe shape. Some of the dams are more than 30 years old; some were built in the fifties. Ellingner says the lack of maintenance essentially caused the dam to nearly break.

"The big issue on that dam is that the hillside on the dam had not been maintained and as a result a lot of trees and brush had grown on the dam. That allows the root system to get into and through the dam. When some trees had died, water penetrated and then washed out the back side."

Cole County Public Works Director Larry Benz was called to the site Thursday to assist with the dam prevention. He says the county commission will call his office for any future information on how to maintain dams and prevent any damage.

"Just see what, how the other counties, if they're dealing with the situation and basically pull in and see if they are dealing with it and if they are, what's their requirements for the size of the dam. Is it the height of the dam? Is it how much water is stored behind it? That's what we're going to be looking into to."

Benz says Public Works would have had to take their role in a possible emergency like this to look at highways, streets, and property for any kind of damage if the dam had collapsed. He says the future of these dams all depend on what the Commission finds and wants to do. © Copyright 2012, KBIA