One little-known problem with the giant hydroelectric dams of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest is that they kill salmon, millions each year. It’s not just the adult ones going upstream to spawn, which have gotten lots of attention; it’s the young ones heading downstream. As many as 10 percent of salmon smolt perish as they try to wriggle through the whirling blades of the hydroelectric turbines. A solution is on its way, and I wrote about it in a story for Popular Mechanics that was published yesterday. […]
