AHSAHKA, Idaho (AP) — The Dworshak National Fish Hatchery is being recognized for making improvements that cut its energy use by 30 million kilowatt-hours per year.

Federal, state and tribal officials presented the hatchery with the U.S. Department of Interior's Environmental Achievement Award on Friday. The Lewiston Tribune reports that the hatchery updated pumps, changed the way fish are incubated and raised, and installed new pipes.

The resulting energy savings are enough to power 3,000 homes in Clearwater County. The hatchery was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after the Dworshak Dam wiped out the steelhead run on the North Fork of the Clearwater. It raises salmon and steelhead and is run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Nez Perce Tribe.

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