Work on the Elwha River dam removal is over for the year because the “fish window” begins November 1, 2012. There are only 65 vertical feet of the Glines Canyon Dam left, and it is now low enough to drain the remaining pool of Lake Mills. Scientists are now seeing coarser sediments coursing downstream from Glines Canyon dam, adding sand and gravel movement to the silt and clay already being transported by the river. New sand deposits can now be seen in the river’s middle ‘reach’, the section between Glines Canyon and the old Elwha Dam site.

Much more about this story, including a blog, photos and videos, documents, and webcams can be found on the Olympic National Park web site.

For a quick overview, a short summary video offers a brief look at the history, the geography, the dam removal process, and some restoration efforts. Time-lapse photography of the dam removal is particularly interesting.

As reported in an earlier article on this web site, Jon Gussman has been continuing work on his documentary film about the Elwha project. You can see many more videos and photos on Jon’s ElwhaFilm.com web site. Lots of scientific information is available as well. A good start are videos of the August 2012 Elwha Science Symposium. Additional sources of science information can be found at the National Park Service web site.