Physical - Elwha River Dam Removal Study

This project monitors ecosystem response to dam removals on the Elwha River, Washington State. The Elwha Dam removal project is the largest project of its kind in the world and is the largest restorative action that has taken place in any Western U.S. Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU). Ecosystem response includes changes to aquatic habitat, the food web, and all aspects of the viable salmon parameters of listed and non-listed salmonid species. The project is based on the development and implementation of the Elwha Monitoring and Adaptive Management Guidelines (EMAM), which was developed as a collaborative effort between the Watershed Program at the NWFSC, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe (LEKT), the United States Department of Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the United States Geologic Survey (USGS), the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), and the National Park Service (NPS). We employ a variety of metrics to efficiently monitor ecosystem condition over space and time. This project will provide data to assess changes for the listed Elwha River populations (Chinook salmon and steelhead), and help determine whether those populations are improving, static, or declining. Such analyses are crucial to help inform future large-scale dam removals for multiple ESUs across the Western U.S. All relevant physical data.

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  "https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/nwfsc/dmp/pdf/18018.pdf"
]