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August 21, 2006
Dammed-nation
Flowing through the north end of Olympic National Park, the Elwha River is a beautiful wilderness stream. The water is tainted with glacial till, giving it a turquoise glint that contrasts with the rich green forest. The river looks like perfect salmon habitat and while walking along the Elwha’s banks, I half expected to see 50 pound Chinooks in the pool tails…
A Beautiful Pool, Elwha River, Olympic Nat'l Park, WA
Historically, the Elwha hosted some of the largest Chinook salmon in the country, but two dams now block salmon and steelhead from accessing most of the river. Fortunately, the National Park Service is planning on removing both dams. The removal project is slated to begin as soon as 2008.
To the best of my knowledge, a major Pacific Coast dam has yet to be removed, although several removal projects are in the works. While constructing fish ladders and trucking fish around dams are better than nothing, removing superfluous dams (like the Elwha dams) is the best way to help the fish.
Dam removal is not an easy process. For starters, decades worth of sediment is trapped behind the structures and the sudden release of this sediment could damage freshwater or marine life. In addition, flood control and many other factors must be considered. If dam removals are done sensibly though, they could greatly improve numerous fisheries in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
Closer to home, the Milltown Dam on the Clark Fork River near Missoula, MT will be removed soon. The sediment behind Milltown contains high concentrations of heavy metals, threatening Missoula’s water supply and a fine trout fishery. In the end, removing the dam will improve the health of the river and the trout fishery.
I hope that after a few dam removal projects are successfully completed over the next decade that the “ice (or the dam) will be broken” and more dam removals will follow.
For now, rainbow trout and dolly varden char (a species that is very similar to the bull trout) still live above the dams on the Elwha River. I hiked 9 miles up the trail, in search of these beautiful native fish. I only encountered small rainbow trout, but I’ve heard of 14-18” rainbows and even larger dolly vardens in this river.
Perhaps the larger fish are in a different stretch of river, or maybe they migrate up from the reservoir seasonally. Although the fishing was less than spectacular, I enjoyed exploring this beautiful valley and wading in the cold, clear river.
I hope to return after the dam removal just to see the large ocean-run fish in this beautiful place. Take a look at these photos to get a taste of the Elwha… and then go visit it for yourself.
Posted by ladelfio at August 21, 2006 07:46 PM
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Comments
Unfortunately, the size and color of the font is pre-set by Kintera, the company that designed the blog, and I have no control of it.
I apologize and I appreciate it that people are willing to cope with the font to read the blog.
If the font is really illegible, send me an e-mail and I can e-mail you each new entry.
Thanks, Luca
Posted by: Luca at August 25, 2006 05:34 PM
I really enjoyed your articles, however, the size of the type and the faint color of the type makes it nearly impossible to read even on a 17"monitor. What is wrong with the size type on this memo and good old Black and White??
Thanks for writing about the Tacoma Headworks fish passage facility and the fish passage at Howard Hanson dam. These have been long term projects of the South King Co. Chapter of TU.
Posted by: Al Barrie at August 24, 2006 12:07 AM
Hope you had a chance to take in Lake Crescent (or was that Crescent Lake?) while in Olympic. One of my favorite places on earth.
Posted by: Al Navarro at August 22, 2006 02:36 PM
