14 Jul

DAM REMOVALS IN THE US

By Fabio

The largest dam removal worldwide was the Elwha river restoration project, where the Glines Canyon dam (64m height) and the Elwha dam (33m height) were dismantled during a five year period (2009-2014). This success story of dam removal was made into a movie “Return of the River“ by John Gussman & Jessica Plumb, putting on scene the group of people who attempted the impossible: to change the public opinion of a town and eventually of the US nation to bring a dam down.

THE ultimate dam removal movie DAMNATION brings overwhelming pictures from Elwha dam removal and other background stories of the US dam removal movement. Watch that movie and afterwards you will see a river with different eyes!!

 

 

The Elwha River is located in the Pacific North West / Washington of the US and its upper basin is within the Olympic National Park and the lower basin is in the Klallam Indian reservation. Only 8km upstream from the river’s confluence to the Pacific Ocean the Elwha dam (33m high) was located followed by the even larger Glines Canyon dam with a dam height of 64m. Photo: Glines canyon dam before removal © John Gussman / Return of the River movie / Patagonia
These dams were blocking the access of millions of salmons to their spawning grounds. The number of fish decreased dramatically over the decades. Salmons cannot spawn and fulfill their lifecycle without access to the spawning grounds. Photo: Pink salmon next to Elwha Dam Powerhouse © Matt Stoecker / DAMNATION /Patagonia
For the Klallam tribe the Elwha River formed an integral part of their spiritual heritage and was also a fishing ground and source of revenue. The dams were constructed in 1913 and 1927 without fish ladders, although fish passages were required by law, but the project owner (Thomas Aldwell) circumvented the law by building an unsuccessful fish hatchery (Wunderlich and others. 1994). Photo: Represents of the Klallam tribe at the Elwha ceremony on 9/17/ 2011© John Gussman / Return of the River / Patagonia
In 1978 Elwha dam failed to pass safety inspections and catastrophic flood risk would have been the consequence if the dam would not have been removed or renovated. Confronted by this risk the tribe has claimed their right to remove the dam, which was the first time in US history. A decades-long effort was necessary by the tribe and conservation groups to bring down this dam. Photo: Elwha Be Free, 20 years Ago © Mikal Jakubal, Patagonia
In 1992, Congress passed the Elwha River Ecosystem and Fisheries Restoration Act, authorizing dam removal to restore the altered ecosystem. After two decades of planning, the largest dam removal in U.S. history began in September, 2009. Photo: Start of Dam removal works at Glines Canyon (c) Photo Ben Knight, Patagonia
Gradually the water was released from the artificial reservoir during the five years of removal works © Jason Jaacks
In 2015 the Elwha River is furcating freely again and endangered salmon, trout and other fish have now again access to more than 113 km of their historic migration and spawning habitat. The former shore line of the artificial reservoir is still visible, but natural vegetation is flourishing more and more every year. Fish stock is recovering quickly and bears, cougars, bobcats, mink, otter, and other wildlife sustained by the renewed food source and have increased in abundance. Photo © Jason Jaacks
Native plants are reclaiming riverbanks and silt and sand are moving downstream to rebuild the natural river delta with islands and sand banks © John Gussman, Return of the River / Patagonia
The film “Return of the River“ by John Gussman & Jessica Plumb is putting on scene the group of people who were behind this success story of dam removal, who attempted the impossible to change the public opinion of a town and eventually of the US nation to bring a dam down.
THE ultimate dam removal movie DAMNATION also brings overwhelming pictures from Elwha dam removal and background stories of other stunning dam removals in the US © Damnation / Patagonia
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