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Elwha Dam Removal & River Restoration Project

Background

The Elwha River Ecosystem and Fisheries Restoration Act of 1992 authorized the federal government to acquire the Elwha and Glines Canyon Dams for decommissioning and demolition for habitat restoration. Removal work on the dams began on September 17, 2011. Because of the structural differences of the two dams, different demolition methods will be used.

Dam removal is one of the first steps towards complete restoration of the Elwha River and ecosystem. This project is managed by the National Park Service (NPS).

In the News

• Sept. 20, 2011: Older Elwha Dam starts becoming rubble (Peninsula Daily News)
• Sept. 19, 2011: Elwha: the grand experiment to tear down two dams (Seattle Times)
• Illustration of the process for removing the two dams on the Elwha River (PDF, 12MB)

More Information

• Elwha River Restoration (National Park Service)
• Project documents
• Dam Removal Process Overview
• Follow the progress on Facebook
• Elwha and Glines Canyon Dams (Bureau of Reclamation)
• Elwha River Dam Removal - Rebirth of a River (US Geological Survey)
• Elwha-Dungeness Watershed (WRIA 18)
• Elwha Dam (Wikipedia)