With Dam Remnants Going By Year End, Elwha River Valley, Fish Populations Recovering Quickly

[hatrack]

PORT ANGELES, Wash. — The final chunks of concrete are expected to fall this September in the nation's largest dam-removal project, but nature is already reclaiming the Elwha River on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. So much sediment, once trapped in reservoirs behind two hydroelectric dams, has flowed downstream that it has dramatically reshaped the river's mouth, replenished eroding beaches and created new habitat for marine creatures not observed there in years.

Meanwhile, Chinook salmon and steelhead have been streaming into stretches of the Elwha River and its tributaries previously blocked by the Elwha Dam, which stood for nearly a century before it came down in 2012.

With the first dam gone, the ocean-migrating fish have been swimming as far upriver as they can. Scientists have observed them at the base of the second 210-foot-tall Glines Canyon Dam about 13 miles upstream, as if they want to continue on.

As they move into areas previously blocked, salmon and steelhead are acting as a fertilizer for the ecosystem, delivering marine nutrients to river otters and other wildlife. Demolition crews this month are waiting for river flows to drop, so they can begin removing the remaining 30 feet of the Glines Canyon Dam. By the end of the year, the Elwha River is expected to flow dam-free from the Olympic Mountains to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, about 80 miles west of Seattle.

EDIT

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2014/07/elwah_river_on_wash_olympic_pe.html#incart_river

[PearliePoo2]

1. I have been waiting for this for 30 years and now it's happened!

Beautiful, beautiful place that is forever protected in the Olympic National Park of Washington State.
The Elwha River, once home to all five species of Pacific Salmon, now that the dams are basically gone, they'll able to re-populate this river once again!

Cameras here: http://video-monitoring.com/construction/olympic/
Facebook Page here: https://www.facebook.com/elwhariverrestoration

Huge K&R

[OnlinePoker]

2. Do you know if they're going to reseed the old lake bed or let nature do it?

Given my choice, it would be nature.

[PearliePoo2]

4. They are reseeding it from the native plants!

It has been years in the planning and it is going really well!
They are on constant vigilance for invasive species.

[OnlinePoker]

5. I guess I should have looked at your links

The facebook page tells all about it.

[KT2000]

3. Have yet to see it but

I hear our once rocky beaches are turning into lovely sandy beaches!
The Native Americans here say you could practically walk across the river on the salmon - there were so many. It is a lovely thing.