SEATTLE (AP) — The Corps of Engineers recently awarded an $11 million contract to design a turbine for the Ice Harbor Dam near the Tri-Cities to help save migrating salmon and steelhead on the Snake River.
Voith Hydro of York, Pa., will develop the first of a new generation of hydroelectric turbines for federal dams in the Columbia River basin to provide safer passage for the fish.
The Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce reports the contract funded by the Bonneville Power Administration calls for a new runner — the part of a turbine that rotates in water to generate power.
The BPA says the contract makes improving fish passage a primary goal, ahead of power and efficiency.
