Federal court dismisses suit against Elwha hatchery

A federal judge has thrown out a suit against the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe’s hatchery plan.

Settle found that the suit was moot because, since the suit was filed, the tribe had obtained permits from federal fisheries officials to carry out programs at its hatchery, leaving no question to settle.

“It speaks for itself,” said the tribe’s lawyer, Steven Suagee. “The initial complaint had been that the tribe didn’t have the approvals for these hatchery programs, and now we do.“

The tribe, while not conceding that the fish cause harm to wild stocks, announced in December to federal officials that it has ended its Chambers Creek program and will not be reviving it.

Kurt Beardslee, of the Wild Fish Conservancy, said the nonprofit, which took the lead in the suit, intends to appeal.

And.....

The tribe is negotiating with federal fisheries officials to be able to fish native Elwha steelhead after the moratorium even if those fish are still listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act, if doing so does not set back recovery.

LINK (via: The Seattle Times)

Even Bigger than Originally Thought

The world's largest dam removal project in history is even bigger than originally thought.

Due to a mapping error the estimate of the sediment load impounded by the Elwha dams was off by a 10,000,000 cubic yards.

LINK (via: The Seattle Times)

Fish hide from heavy sediment flow in newly freed Elwha River

A rain-swollen Elwha River is now flowing freely for the first time in a century, triggering the first big release of some of the 20 million cubic yards of sediment stuck behind what’s left of Glines Canyon Dam.

While scientists are giddy over the long-anticipated and well-planned flush of Lake Mills sediment, coho and chum salmon are ducking for cover since the river’s turbidity has spiked seven-fold since summer.

LINK (via: The Penninsula Daily)

A week of blasting at Glines Canyon Dam

Crews will resume blasting the 85-year-old dam today, lowering what's left of Lake Mills by another 8 feet.

A Drone’s Eye View of the Elwha River

Scientists have been looking at all angles of the Elwha River since deconstruction began on two dams just over a year ago. They’ve been testing turbidity, tracking river otters and conducting an ongoing salmon census.

And now they’re using remote-control planes to record high-definition video and thermal images. They’re securing a small camera to a 4-foot wide drone, which can flies as high as 500 feet over the river.

Footage provided by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Restoring the Elwha

Get a closer look at the large-scale restoration efforts and science behind the largest dam removal in U.S. history, which began in 2011 on the Elwha River in Washington State. How do NOAA Fisheries scientists prepare for and measure the changes?