On Youngs Creek in Washington state, a $29 million hydro dam has just been opened that expects to provide electricity for approximately 2,000 homes in the area. The steep costs of this project were considered prior to the start of the construction of this dam, and due to the fact that there was seemingly greater social benefit than social costs, the efforts were supported. This three year project took the environment into consideration as well, ensuring that the trout that live in the water around the dam would not be harmed by the man-made structure."Microdams are more economical than other environmentally friendly sources of energy such as solar or wind power," as reported by the senior engineer for water resources and generation for the Public Utility District of the county, so maybe we will start seeing more of them popping up as a means to energy production.