When Dams Come Down, Salmon and Sand Can Prosper

Photo: Andy Ritchie/National Park Service

When people urge the removal of dams they say are strangling rivers in the West, it’s usually fish they’re worried about. Studies of dam-removal projects show that migratory species like salmon respond quickly to improved conditions once a dam is removed.

But the removal of a dam on the Elwha River in northern Washington State — the largest such project in the United States — is demonstrating that there can be another beneficiary: the beach.

LINK (via:The NY Times)

Elwha River Virtual Tour

Take a virtual ride on the Elwha River from the former Lake Mills to the mouth as the river empties into the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Users of the Google Street View-style project by Flying Fish Views, a Seattle-based startup also known as F2V, can see rapids and even dive underwater to see the “fish view” version of the trip.

The “travel” is via 30,000 individual photographs stitched together to create a 360-degree view of the lower third of the river and valley around a river raft.

The trip reveals everything from underwater views of spawning salmon to towering rock overhangs as it explores the mysteries of the river now that it has been freed from two dams and is reclaiming its historical route through steep valleys and narrow canyons.

LINK (via: Peninsula Daily News)

Elwha River's water level falling enough to allow dam removal to finish

The work to remove the last 30 feet of the Glines Canyon dam is scheduled to start next week.

There will be explosives involved.

LINK (via: The Peninsula Daily)

A River Reborn – Floating the Elwha River after dam removal

Photo: Olympic Raft & Kayak

Patagonia Fly Fishing Ambassador and DamNation producer/underwater photographer, Matt Stoecker recently floated the Elwha with the winners of the Patagonia/DamNation photo contest and their hosts from Olympic Raft & Kayak.

Their group was the first commercial trip Olympic Raft & Kayak had taken down through what they’ve named That Dam Rapid. A short, steep, highly technical Class 4 drop through what used to be Elwha Dam.

LINK (via: The Cleanest Line)

The once-towering Glines Canyon Dam's days are numbered.

The final 30 feet of the concrete goliath, which once stood 210 feet tall along the Elwha River, are expected to be gone by this fall as the dam removal portion of the $325 million Elwha River restoration project prepares to draw to a close.

LINK (via: Peninsula Daily News)

Federal judges deny request for emergency injunction against steelhead planting in Elwha River

This really sucks.

A panel of federal appellate judges has rejected a wild-fish advocacy group’s request to stop the planting of hatchery-born steelhead in the Elwha River.

The ruling clears the way for Lower Elwha Klallam tribal hatchery managers to proceed with their planned release of as many as 175,000 steelhead from the $16.5 million hatchery built to help restore Elwha River fish runs.

LINK (via:The Peninsula Daily)