Blocking steelies & salmon for decades...but not for much longer!
One hundred pound king salmon (and massive runs of coho, pinks, chums, sockeye, steelhead, bull trout and cutthroat trout) used to swim up the Elwah River on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula…that is, before Elwha and Glines Canyon dams were built just 5 miles up from saltwater in the the early 1900s. Once one of Washington’s most prolific salmon producers, the Elwah took a huge nosedive after the dams were erected.
But that’s about to change…
After a long fight, the two dams are scheduled to be removed in 2011 (with work already starting now…see the story in the
SEATTLE TIMES) in what is going to be the largest project of its kind in the U.S. What’s really freakin’ cool is the river above the dams flows largely through Olympic National Park, where the spawning and rearing habitat is as pristine as it was before the dams! I’ve been up in that part of the world and the river is amazing! Think about it for a second: 70 miles of river plus endless tribs that are in primo condition. This could be one of the greates fishery restoration successes in history!
Of course, there are some inherent problems with dam removal…like what the heck do you do with all the sediment built up behind the dams? Water treatment facilities are being built now to help but it’s not going to be a small task.
For a lot more info on the Elwah restoration project, check out the National Parks Service
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey JD do you know how to get the hoh river trail head?
ive looked but havent found much.
do you know the directions?
thanks.
It will take a while to have the numbers increase, but adding spawning habitat never hurts.
I was actually standing on top of the Elwah dam only three weeks prior to reading this article. From on top of the dam we were watching massive kings circling in the pool directly below. Naturally a closer look was needed so a couple of us hiked down and a few of those fish were at least 50+ pounds. I feel lucky to live in Seattle and that I’ll be able to fish it in it’s new prime. I’m no biologist but I’d say in 2020 it may be on fire up there.
I would like to retract my statement of the Elwah being on fire in 2020. Like I said…I’m no biologist. After skimming through the restoration project report it looks like it may be 20-25 years before the repopulation efforts produce good numbers of returning fish. Also with the 18 million cubic yards of sediment built up in the resevoirs over the years the remaining Elwah fish could suffer when it gets released into the lower river. I assume the water treatment plants they are constructing will counteract that to some degree. Hopefully the Elwah will be back in shape in the year 2030. A long time but, it’ll be worth the wait.
Just finished reading the FAQ on the National Parks Service you provided . The following is nuts!!
Salmon populations will swell, from 3,000 to more than 300,000 as all five species of Pacific salmon return to more than 70 miles of river and stream.