It's tough to be a salmon in Idaho

[MillCreek]

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/idaho/articles/2020-10-29/idahos-sockeye-salmon-run-falters-again-experts-perplexed

660,000 juvenile fish released from the hatchery and 27 adult salmon return two years later.  Every now and again, some groups push for the removal of dams on the Snake and Columbia rivers to save salmon and help restore orca populations. The sticky wicket is that the dams are vital to power generation, irrigation and marine transportation.  Removal of the dams would consign large parts of the Pacific Northwest to be a thinly-populated dustbowl.  I like the salmon and orcas as much as anybody, but not to the extent of dam removal.

[Ben]

I saw they are building more fish ladders and other "fish helpers". They are talking about major, established dams, and it's not just the enviros - recreational and commercial fishing communities want the dams removed as well. Besides the dustbowl aspect,  I can only imagine what electricity would cost without that hydro power.

I can't see any dam removal happening, especially on the Idaho side, but if they did, I'd be gettin' me one a them there Elon Musk roofs post haste.

[WLJ]

As far as the electricity goes they can always build more coal power plants 

[MillCreek]

Washington and Oregon used to be kings of smelting aluminum, since the hydropower electricity to run the plants was almost too cheap to meter.  There were a number of smelters along the Columbia.  Everett was one of the major ports to import alumina ore, and there is still an alumina ore storage dome down at the docks.  Long strings of railcars would transport the alumina to the smelters.  Now the cheap electricity is no more, the smelters are gone, the dome is empty and the long strings of railcars are transporting garbage down to the massive landfill in central Oregon.