Blasts punctuate anniversary of Elwha Dam project
September 21st, 2012 by cdunaganThe folks at Olympic National Park who keep us informed about the Elwha River Ecosystem Restoration Project could not have described it better: “It has been an explosive week at Glines Canyon Dam,” they said in their “Dam Removal Blog.”
Blasting this week at Glines Canyon
Dam. Click on image to start video.
Video courtesy of Olympic National Park
The “salmon window,” designed to protect migrating fish, has now closed, allowing work in the river to begin again. This week, four big blasts blew out large sections of the dam on Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, as the reservoir level dropped from 489 to 476 feet, according to the blog. Click on the image to start the video of the blasting.
After an upcoming blast on Sunday, a 14-day waiting period will begin to allow the river to erode laterally.
The remote cameras at both the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams are useful for observing environmental and structural changes in the areas around the two dams. An unexpected use came into play Thursday, when an average person looking at the Elwha Dam webcam noticed a fire burning at the edge of the picture.
Someone noticed a fire on the Elwha
Dam webcam and was able to call in firefighters before it got out
of hand.
Photo courtesy of Olympic National Park
Firefighters from Clallam County, the Washington Department of Natural Resources and Olympic National Park were able to extinguish the blaze before it could burn more than half an acre. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Read the news release about fire danger in the national park.
Click on image for video showing the
first year of Elwha River restoration work.
Video courtesy of Olympic National Park
It’s worth noting that we have just passed the first anniversary of the start of dam removal. The Elwha Dam is gone and most site work is complete. Glines Canyon Dam is about 60 percent removed. And salmon have been observed swimming upstream of the Elwha Dam. Click on the image (lower right) to start the video, which shows what has happened over the past year.
Tags: Dam removal, Elwha Dam, Elwha Ecosystem Restoration, Elwha River, Glines Canyon Dam, Olympic National Park
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