Weinmeister Receives DNRC Director's Award for Dedication to Dept.

When Pam Weinmeister's career at the Glasgow office of the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation began over 37 years ago, it had a familiar start for some in northeast Montana.

"I needed a job," she explained. "My husband was a farmer and we just weren't making it."

So, she applied to work as a compliance technician in the water rights division of the local DNRC office, and she never left. After 34 years in the role, she took a promotion as Water Rights Specialist and she even performed the duties for both jobs for her first year and a half on the job. It was that selfless dedication and willingness to maintain both jobs that led to her nomination for the DNRC Director's Award.

To even be considered for the exclusive award each year, the recipient must be nominated by their peers and then be the sole selectee out of all the nominees in every DNRC division across the state. In 2020, Weinmeister was selected to receive that honor.

"With her institutional knowledge and expertise, Pam [Weinmeister] is often the 'Go To' person for advice from coworkers in her office and around the state who have come to rely on her impeccable memory and record keeping," cited the award plaque.

As a water rights specialist, Weinmeister's job consists of examining water rights claims and assisting the water court in issuing decrees pertaining to disputed claims. Basically, her job is to make sure that the information going to the water court is correct and that water rights in the region are protected and enforced.

Key to the work she explained, is to resolve claims before they are sent to the water court, but even after a claim proceeds to decree. Her role continues after a decree as well, by resolving the water right at hand based on the data available with the claimant.

In 37 years, she's seen a lot of changes to the office. As a compliance tech she was responsible for early computer use at the office. Early in her career she took night classes at Nashua High School to learn computer coding languages like DOS on her government issued computers. As technology changed so did the job and Weinmeister managed the variances in rules, technology and statutes as they came along. With nearly four decades of institutional knowledge in the same division, she has made herself an anchor for the office and the department.

"There's never a dull moment," she said. "There's always something new going on. The legislature meets and changes laws and so you've got to interpret what they pass now and apply that to your applications."

Weinmeister said she has seen the direct impact of her department's work in the state firsthand. After water rights are decreed and adjudicated, the enforcement of those rights fall to water commissioners. The commissioners enforce the rights and, as a result, water flows to the holders of those rights.

"The Teton is a good example," she said, explaining how the Teton River north of Great Falls would dry up year after year leaving longer-established water rights downstream all dried up. Proper enforcement of those rights over the past few years has kept the water flowing and the river now joins with the Marias River at the end of the dry season. "It's amazing to see how the enforcement actually works."

Weinmeister was born and raised in Valley County but moved her senior year to Great Falls and graduated from Great Falls High. She met her husband there and moved back to Nashua 43 years ago before taking the DNRC job. Eventually her husband left farming and took on a job at a local grain elevator and then he did maintenance at the hospital. He is now retired. Weinmeister is hoping to retire herself after 40 years on the job.