Environment

National Parks: Secretary Salazar to celebrate removal of dam

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

"Nearly a century after they rose up and blocked the Elwha River to generate power, two dams on the river with headwaters in Olympic National Park will begin to be removed this weekend in a historic event aimed at restoring the park's largest watershed.

The event is so huge that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and other dignataries will be present Saturday to help mark the occasion by symbolically removing a chunk of the Elwha Dam. After that, it will take several years for the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams to be removed from the landscape, which is to be recontoured as closely as possible to how the river ran prior to the dams' construction.

"Expected to last three years, the event marks a significant milestone for the Elwha River Restoration project which will help increase salmon populations, uphold commitments to the culture of the Elwha Klallam Tribe, and create new opportunities for growth and regional vitality," an Interior Department release said."

Get the Story:
Kurt Repanshek: History To Be Made With Dismantling Of Dams Impacting Olympic National Park Watershed (National Parks Traveler 9/14)

Also Today:
Celebrate Elwha! Here are the Elwha River dam-removal events this week (The Peninsula Daily News 9/14)
The Elwha Dams, Part 4 (historical series) — Klallams' river lifeline severed by dams (The Peninsula Daily News 9/14)