Elwha

Where are we?

Coast Salish and Klallam Land

Olympic National Park

Washington State

Coast Salish & Klallam Land

The Elwha River is located on the ancestral and present-day homelands of the Klallam people, in the north-western part of what is now called Washington state.

Land acknowledgments seek to honor the original people of this land.

How can we honor the original people of this land?

Olympic National Park

Because of the rain shadow’s influence on the Pacific Ocean and the Olympic Mountains, the watershed’s rainfall patterns are diverse. From 150 inches at the highest reaches to 36 inches at the mouth.

36 in.

of rainfall

Rain shadow

150 in. of rainfall

Largest in Olympic National Park

Break

Fresh & Salt Water

Salmon are born in freshwater rivers, but then swim to the ocean and spend one to seven years of their adult life in salt water.

During their time at sea, they feed on a variety of marine life such as plankton and shrimp. Then they return to the streams where they were born (their natal streams) to spawn.

This type of life cycle that includes both a fresh and saltwater phase is anadromy.

Salmon Life Cycle

Before the dams were built, it is estimated that nearly 400,000 salmon returned to the Elwha annually.

Marine Derived Nutrients

Nutrient Providers

After laying their eggs in nests (called redds) dug in river sediment, adult salmon die. They deliver valuable nutrients, derived from the ocean, to the watershed’s flora and fauna.

Trees in salmon-bearing watersheds have been shown to have increased growth when

compared to non-salmon bearing watersheds

due to this availability of marine-derived

nutrients.

Up to 25% of the nitrogen found

in trees near the banks of salmon-bearing

streams is derived from spawning salmon.

Moreover, wildlife such as bears, mink,

raccoons and eagles carry salmon carcasses

away from the river’s edge and spread the

wealth of nutrients into the surrounding

forest.

Nourishment

Before the dams were built, the Elwha River was home to large runs of all five species of Pacific salmon and four species of trout.

Range Map

Creation Site

"Many of our ancestors who lived on the Elwha spoke about a place on the river where there is a big flat rock with two holes in it containing water. These holes are shaped like coil a coil basket called... This is where the Creator bathed the people and blessed them. This is the place on the river where people would go to get information about their future. If you put your hand in the hold and pull out something like a shell, it would mean wealth. If you pull out deer hair you will become a good hunter. Before you could go to the Creation site, you would first go to the hot springs to physically cleanse and bathe to prepare yourself. You would go alone, fasting, meditating, and bathing in the cold river."

From "The Elwha River and Its People"

Elwha, Strong People

Reading of "Strong People"

The Strong People

One day there was a big gathering at Elwha. They ate salmon, clams, wild berries, and lots of good things from nature.

Then they had a contest to see who was the strongest. They decided to see who could lift a big log to the top of a big house that they were building. All of the other tribes tried to lift the log. Each tribe chose their strongest men. None of them could lift the big log.

It was time for the mighty Klallams. They remembered that logs float in water. So they rolled the big log into the water.

Then their strongest young men walked out into the water until it was up to their shoulders. Then they let the log float onto their shoulders and walked out of the water carrying the log on their shoulders.

When they reached the longhouse, everyone shouted, “šaʔšúm, šaʔšúm, šaʔšúm!” On the third time they all lifted it up to the top. All the other tribes thought that the mighty Klallams must be very strong to put the log up so high, and smart to use the water to first get the log onto their shoulders.

They all shouted, “Nəxʷsƛ̕áy̕əm! Nəxʷsƛ̕áy̕əm!” which means, “Strong People! Strong People!”

That is how our tribe received its name.

Pictures: Kim Sager-Fradkin

Animals of the Elwha

American Dipper, an aquatic songbird

Access to water and a diversity of foods create desirable habitat for birds, mammals, amphibians and invertebrates.

Animals in this watershed are numerous and include river otter, American dipper, black bear, Roosevelt elk, mink, bald eagles and more. The cold, clean water also draws in every species of Pacific Northwest salmon for spawning.

Plants of the Elwha

Old-growth forests of Douglas fir, western red cedar and big-leaf maple are native to this watershed, as well as younger riparian forests of black cottonwood, willows, red alder, salmonberries and blackberries along the river’s edge.

A riparian ecosystem refers to the ecosystem in and around rivers, creeks and streams.

Pre Dam Human Uses

The Klallam people and other Coast Salish Tribes in the area have stewarded this land since time immemorial, depending on it for sustenance. Before European settlers built the dams, there were many Klallam villages along the Elwha's shores. The Elwha river was a great food source for the Klallam people. Fishing for salmon is a central part of Klallam culture and livelihood. Salmon are the tribe’s main source of food and they depend on the annual return of fish for survival.

European settlers came into contact with the people on the Northwest Coast in the 1770s, bringing with them disease to which the Klallam people had no immunity. These infectious diseases killed an estimated 80% of the coastal Indigenous population in the first century of colonization. In the 1800s European Settlers began moving to the area and displaced the indigenous peoples living here, including the Klallam.

People of the Elwha

Effects of the Dams on the People

How did the Dams Affect People?

The goal of the dams was to provide electricity for the town of Port Angeles and to increase financial prosperity for American settlers in the town of Port Angeles.

Due to the loss of salmon, and many other influences, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe lost food and economic security, and had to find new ways to live in the changing landscape.

Salmon

To the left is a diagram showing the potential range map of where fish could go to spawn, pre-dam construction.

How did the Dams Affect Salmon?

By 2010, less than 10,000 salmon were returning to the Elwha annually—around 2.5% of pre-dam return numbers.

Lakes Mills & the Canyon

Dam Construction

The area behind Glines Canyon Dam was flooded, creating a reservoir called Lake Mills.

The dam was 210 feet tall.

This construction of this dam was illegal. The Glines Canyon Dam was supposed to be built with a fish passage, so salmon could pass through to their spawning grounds.

Photo Credit: Elwhejeff, Lake Mills, Washington

Dam removal

Removal of the dams and restoration of the Elwha was approved in 1992.

Dam

Removal

In 2008, the removal and restoration was considered a shovel ready project during the financial recession.

Removal of the dams began in 2011.

NPS & WCC restoration crew after dam removal.

Photo Credit: Olympic National Park

Lake Mills

Former Lake Mills from an airplane

What does it look like now?

Former Lake Mills revegetation of lupine

Dam Construction

Dam Construction

Construction of the dam was completed in 1913 and began delivering electricity to towns as far away as Port Townsend and Bremerton.

Although required at the time, the dam was built without a fish ladder, denying anadramous fish access to their freshwater spawning streams.

Elwha Dam electricity in 1913 reached Port Angeles and Port Townsend.

Dam Removal

Removal of the dams and restoration of the Elwha was approved in 1992.

Dam

Removal

In 2008, the removal and restoration was considered a shovel ready project during the financial recession.

Removal of the dams began in 2011.

Former Lake Aldwell from space

Lake Aldwell

Former Lake Aldwell lake bed with cottonwood and lupine

What does it look like now?

Elwha River bank at former Lake Aldwell

The more you see the more you know

Salmonid Spawning Gravel

Different fish prefer and utilize different size sediment to spawn.

Video of Chinook Salmon Spawning

Why might scientists study sediment size?

Water Resources Research. July 1993 The Sizes of Salmonid Spawning Gravels. 29(7):2275-2286 DOI: 10.1029/93WR00402

Can you find what grain size Chinook Salmon prefer?

Why else might scientists look at how sediment changes in a river?

Scientists look at sediment

Sediment at the Mouth

How do you think this sediment impacted wildlife?

Estuary Transect, 2014

Rebuilding an Estuary

Estuaries are important transition zones from slow-moving freshwater rivers, to the harsh saltwater open oceans.

They provide a wide variety of habitat for wildlife, including juvenile salmon.

Nearshore Animals

Sediment Starved

Coastal areas are particularly sensitive to erosion due to ocean tides.

Reversing Coastal Erosion

Construction of the dams slowed the speed of water and altered the type of sediment (sand and gravel) and woody debris that were flowing downstream.

Since the removal of the Elwha dams, the coastal areas have increased.

Evolution of the Elwha River delta topography and bathymetry before, during and after dam removal 2011-17.

From Warrick, J.A., Stevens, A.W., Miller, I.M. et al. World’s largest dam removal reverses coastal erosion. Sci Rep 9, 13968 (2019).

Advocates for Dam Removal

The removal of the Elwha River dams had long been advocated for by the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. In 1968, the owners of the dams filed to re-license the Glines Canyon Dam from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The licensing process included public hearings, which were clear opportunities to reexamine the pros and cons of the two dams.

Advocates for Removal

photo: Ben Knight, DamNation

Joining Forces

Environmental groups aligned with the Elwha tribe in supporting the removal of the dams and restoration of the Elwha River ecosystem.

As opposition to the dams grew, the licensing process became delayed and contentious.

Various questions were examined in court, including whether FERC had the authority to license a dam inside of a national park, and how to mitigate the dam’s effects on the river’s salmon populations.

Joining Forces

Outdated and Inefficient

The Environmental Impact Statement drafted by the National Park Service explored the different fish mitigation options. The draft concluded that:

1) Only the removal of both dams would result in the full restoration of the Elwha River ecosystem and its anadromous fish run;

2) Dam removal was feasible; and

3) the Elwha dams had become outdated and inefficient producing only modest amounts of electricity that could be supplied by the wider electrical grid.

Release of Sediment

During the 100 years that the dams were in place, they had trapped roughly 21 million cubic meters of sediment, which is about enough to fill seven professional foot-ball stadiums.

Below is a picture of sediment (sand, gravel) flowing out of the mouth of the Elwha that began migrating down river after removal of the dams.

Much of this sediment flowed down river and deposited at the river mouth and along the near-shore, rebuilding the Elwha River estuary and eroded beaches. This estuary is a key habitat for juvenile salmon as well as many other species of fish and birds. Check out this time lapse video of sediment depositing at the mouth!

Release of Sediment

Revegetation

Revegetation is the process of rebuilding and replenishing disturbed soil.

The removal of the of the Elwha dam created over 800 acres of new habitat. To help reduce high levels of sediment runoff into the river, revegetation became an important objective for the restoration effort. Revegetation helps stabilize a river bank, which controls the amount of sediment present in the river.

Increased vegetation also shades the river which helps keep the river cool, another key feature of healthy salmon habitat.

The National Park Service, members of the Lower Elwha Tribe, and even NatureBridge students planted millions of seeds and over 400,000 native plant seedlings, to help with the revegetation process!

Ecosystem Restoration

Elwha Wildlife

The Elwha River restoration created over 800 acres of new habitat for terrestrial wildlife.

Wildlife play an important role in the restoration of the Elwha River.

How will Elwha Wildlife Respond?

Data and Pictures: Kim Sager-Fradkin, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, National Park Service and the United States Geological Survey

If you could study anything on dam removal, what would it be?

Share out