Dam Removal and River Restoration
After the 1992 Elwha River Ecosystem and Fisheries Restoration Act was passed, a number of alternates were explored by the Department of the Interior. The Final Programmatic EIS (Environmental impact statement), released in June 1995, concluded that the only way to fully restore the river was to remove both dams. The Final Implementation EIS, released in November 1996, concluded that sediment that had accumulated in the two reservoirs should be allowed to erode downstream naturally.
Removal of the Elwha Dam began in September 2011 and was finished in spring 2012, ahead of schedule. The dam removal process was originally projected to last two and a half to three years. The estimated cost of removing both dams is $40 to $60 million. The total cost of the Elwha River restoration is approximately $351.4 million. This price includes the purchase of the two dams and related facilities, construction of two water treatment plants and other facilities to protect water users, construction of flood protection facilities, a fish hatchery, and a greenhouse for growing native plants for revegetation.
Read more about this topic: Elwha Ecosystem Restoration
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