Chunks Of Concrete Remain, But Elwha & Glines Canyon Reservoirs Now Gone

[hatrack]

With a big shot of dynamite, the last of Lake Mills drained through what's left of Glines Canyon Dam last week. There's still about 50 feet of the Glines Canyon Dam standing. But the last of the once 210-foot-tall structure will be gone by May.

Today the river crashes over what's left of the dam in a waterfall. And while there is still a mixture of water and sediment that can't get past the remaining concrete yet, there are no more reservoirs on the Elwha. "She's all river now," Andy Ritchie, restoration hydrologist for the National Park Service said with a big smile.

Lake Aldwell, the former reservoir above Elwha Dam, disappeared last March, along with that dam.

The pace and scope of change has been breathtaking, as this amazing pairing of aerial photos by photographer John Gussman shows. Gussman is making a documentary film about the Elwha. He got started before dam removal began, and his comprehensive documentation of the river, the dams, and the watershed as the world's largest dam removal ever unfolds is invaluable. To see more of his work, check his website.




The Elwha River in free fall over what's left of Glines Canyon Dam. When the big storms come, the free flowing river is going to cut lots of impounded sediment loose. The rate at which the rest of the dam is taken down will provide some control over the process.

EDIT

http://seattletimes.com/html/fieldnotes/2019555725_shes_all_river_now_elwha_river_running_free_after_100_years.html

[CanonRay]

1. I camped by there right before they started taking it down.

Thanks for the posting.