ALT Crews install wire mesh on a large gabion adjacent to a dam spillway.

ALT An excavator removes the apron above a dam spillway. The reservoir is to the right and the dam's gates are to the left.

ALT Aerial view of Palisades Dam Powerplant near Irwin, Idaho. Water rushes from the powerplant into the Snake River below, with the large earthfill dam and a steep, forested mountainside visible behind the facility.

ALT Technical Service Center engineer Matt Burgamy stands beside testing and monitoring equipment while commissioning Reclamation’s first in-house-designed digital speed governor and excitation system controller. A laptop, electronic testing equipment, control cabinets and wiring are visible around him.

ALT Technical Service Center engineer Kyle Clair sits at a laptop beside an open electrical control cabinet while testing and monitoring equipment during commissioning. Wiring, control panels, testing devices and cables are visible throughout the work area.

ALT Andy Price works inside an open electrical control cabinet while installing Reclamation’s first digital excitation system controller. Wiring, electronic components and control equipment fill the cabinet, with spools of wire and tools visible nearby.

ALT View of Minidoka Power Plant along the Snake River near Rupert, Idaho. Water flows from the historic concrete powerplant into the river, which is bordered by rocky banks and vegetation beneath a cloudy sky.

ALT Aerial view of Minidoka Power Plant along the Snake River near Rupert, Idaho. The powerplant, electrical substation and water channels are visible beside the river, with water flowing through the facility.

ALT Interior view of Minidoka Power Plant near Rupert, Idaho, with a row of green hydroelectric generating units extending through the facility. Yellow railings and lights line an elevated walkway overlooking the generators, with control equipment, pipes and other machinery visible throughout the power plant.

ALT Aerial view of Minidoka Power Plant along the Snake River near Rupert, Idaho. The historic power plant, electrical substations and surrounding utility buildings sit beside the river, with water flowing from the facility beneath a bridge.

ALT View from downstream of Buffalo Bill Dam near Cody, Wyoming, with the curved concrete dam rising between steep canyon walls. Water releases from the base of the dam, creating mist as it flows into the Shoshone River below.

ALT Exterior view of Spirit Mountain Powerplant near Cody, Wyoming, surrounded by steep, rocky canyon walls. Utility buildings, electrical equipment, vehicles and other equipment are visible throughout the facility beneath a partly cloudy sky.

ALT View of Lewiston Powerplant near Lewiston, California, surrounded by trees and rocky terrain. Several utility buildings, concrete structures, yellow safety railings and equipment are visible throughout the facility.

ALT Close-up view of a hydroelectric generating unit inside Lewiston Powerplant. The large white generator is surrounded by gauges, pipes and other mechanical equipment.

ALT Aerial view of Grand Coulee Dam spanning the Columbia River in Washington state. Water flows over the dam’s spillway into the river below, with powerplants on either side of the spillway and communities, roads and rocky terrain surrounding the river.

ALT Interior view of the John W. Keys III Pump-Generating Plant at Grand Coulee Dam, with a row of large green generating units extending through the facility. Elevated walkways, control equipment and overhead cranes line the powerhouse, with a large American flag visible in the background.

ALT Interior view of the Right Powerhouse at Grand Coulee Dam, with a row of large red hydroelectric generating units extending through the facility. Overhead cranes, structural beams, walkways and an American flag are visible in the background.

ALT Interior view of the Nathaniel “Nat” Washington Power Plant at Grand Coulee Dam. A large blue generating unit dominates the foreground inside the expansive concrete facility, with overhead lights, walkways, equipment and a yellow crane visible in the distance.

ALT A large American flag hangs inside the Shasta Dam powerplant near Redding, California, above a row of hydroelectric generating units. Blue railings surround the generators, with overhead equipment and a second American flag visible in the background.

ALT View of Parker Dam and its powerplant spanning the Colorado River along the Arizona-California border. Palm fronds frame the concrete structures and blue-green water under a clear blue sky.

ALT View from downstream of Flaming Gorge Dam, with the curved concrete dam rising between steep canyon walls. The Green River is visible below the dam, with yellow flowering shrubs in the foreground under a clear blue sky.

ALT Aerial view of Black Canyon Diversion Dam spanning the Payette River near Emmett, Idaho. Water flows over the dam into the river below, with the powerplant, canal, railroad tracks and surrounding rocky hillsides visible.

ALT Two men and one woman wearing hard hats and safety goggles pose for a selfie with a sign that says, "I just took a Green Mountain Powerplant tour -- It was electrifying! #Hydropower #Colorado-BigThompson

ALT A man in a hard hat holds an enormous wrench in front of a wall that has multiple enormous wrenches hanging from it.

ALT A group of approximately 40 people in hard hats, mostly college students, poses in front of a power plant and spillway.

ALT A winding irrigation canal cuts through green farmland under a bright blue sky with scattered clouds.