World War II brought both the Farragut Naval Training Base and a renewed demand for hydroelectric power to the Pacific Northwest. Regional wartime industries, from aluminum plants to ship yards, consumed so much electricity that the Bonneville Power Administration looked for ways to increase production.
By 1943, the BPA settled on plans for storage dams at Albeni Falls and Flathead Lake in Montana. These were designed to impound enough water to ensure year-round operations of Grand Coulee and Bonneville dams farther downstream.
