The contract includes removal of the 108ft high Elwha Dam, completed in 1913, and the 210ft high Glines Canyon Dam, completed in 1927. Work is scheduled to start in September 2011.
"This is a historic moment," said Olympic National Park Superintendent Karen Gustin. "With award of this contract, we begin the countdown to the largest dam removal and one of the largest restoration projects in US history."
Removing the two dams will allow fish to access spawning habitat in more than 70 miles of river and tributary stream, most of which is protected inside Olympic National Park.
The 45 mile long Elwha River is the historic home of all five species of Pacific salmon and is one of the Northwest's most productive salmon streams. Because neither dam provided passage for migratory fish, salmon and other fish have been restricted to the lower five miles of river since dam construction.
"The award of this contract represents tangible progress toward the completion of what I believe will be one of the most exciting and biologically-significant initiatives ever launched by the federal government," said US Rep. Norm Dicks, representing Washington's 6th District that includes the Olympic Peninsula. "The removal of the two dams and the restoration of this unique and largely-protected habitat will demonstrate how these historically-abundant fish runs can recover when we 'turn back the clock.'"
Once underway, the removal process will take up to three years. Dam removal will release large amounts of sediment now impounded in reservoirs behind both dams, so stoppages will be built into the work schedule to limit the amount of sediment released at any given time, particularly when adult fish are in the river.
A number of preparatory projects have already been completed, or are underway now. Facilities to protect the Port Angeles drinking and industrial water supplies were completed early this year. Improvements to flood protection levees are underway and a fish hatchery on the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe's Reservation is now under construction to replace the tribe's existing hatchery. The new hatchery will help maintain existing stocks of Elwha River fish during dam removal and produce populations of coho, pink, and chum salmon and steelhead vital to restoration.
"As we have been appropriating funds for this project over many years, I have been encouraged that it received the consistent support of four administrations from both parties," added Dicks, who has served for his entire career on the House Subcommittee on Interior and the Environment which funds the National Park Service. He said another $20 million was included in the appropriations bill that the Interior subcommittee approved in late-July for the next fiscal year.
The Elwha River Restoration project is possible through the support and participation of many partners, including the US Bureau of Reclamation which was the lead agency in designing dam removal and sediment management strategies and currently operates and maintains the dams.
More information about Elwha River Restoration is available at the Olympic National Park website http://www.nps.gov/olym or at the Elwha River Restoration Facebook page.
