In August 1932 Waldo E. Smith of Bismarck, a state engineer urged the people of Carrington to take up the project of building a dam on the Pipestem River which passes within six miles of Carrington. The headline in the Foster County Independent of July 13, 1933, read:
"Organize County Committee: Will Apply for Dams."
Foster County organized a committee to handle the job of obtaining CCC labor and possible federal aid money for building a number of dams in the county.
With the headquarters in McHenry, the final committee to handle the affair was
A.C. Loder, Juanita, president;
R.J. Murphy, Bordulac, vice president;
C.B. Craven, Carrington, secretary-treasurer
Other members were C.E. Bohner, Grace City, E.S. Berg, Glenfield; J.N. Kunkel, Carrington; Fred Gebner, Barlow; N.N. Loesch, Melville; W.H. Pewe, McHenry.
The committee's function was to handle the county's applications for money, labor from the Civilian Corps, surveys, plans and other requirements to put over a dam building program in the county.
Source: A History of Foster County 1983 Page 17