A hydroelectric dam building boom in the Pacific Northwest in the past century drove dozens of salmon runs to extinction and has cost taxpayers billions of dollars to try to save the fish that remain. Today, scientists from the region are hard at work to prevent a repeat of history at a time when countries around the world race to wring more energy from rivers to fuel a power hungry and warming planet. "We've made some pretty good progress here in the Pacific Northwest on determining criteria that can help keep fish safe," Richard Brown, a senior research scientist at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash., told NBC News. Brown and his lab colleagues are collaborating with researchers from Laos, Brazil and Australia to apply what they've learned to reduce injury and death to fish passing through dam turbines on their way to the sea.
