Elwha nearshore ecosystem restoration: dam removal and shoreline armor removal

Along the central Strait of Juan de Fuca, a century of sediment disruption associated with two large dams resulted in high rates of shoreline erosion and subsequent shoreline armor placement along the Elwha River nearshore. The Elwha River Dam Removal and Ecosystem Restoration Project, completed in 2014, was the largest intentional dam removal and ecosystem restoration project undertaken in the U.S. to date. In 2016-017, using state and federal conservation funding, Coastal Watershed Institute (CWI) purchased a 26 acre parcel adjacent to the river delta and began to restore the shoreline, floodplain and uplands at the site of a former mouth of the Elwha River at the eastern extent of the historic Elwha River delta to link nearsore ecosystem restoration with watershed-scale restoration. CWI partnered with the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and private land owners to remove ~7,000 cubic yards of derelict armor from approximately 3/4 mile of shoreline. This presentation will discuss project elements and provide progress to date of this multi-year multi-phase river delta and coastal floodplain restoration project along with associated biophysical response monitoring. The presentation will also discuss the coupling of nearshore restoration with watershed-scale restoration to benefit five species (7populations) of migratory salmon, 4 species (6 populations) of migratory trout and char native to the Elwha, in addition to the forage fish that Elwha fish and Salish Sea outmigrants depend upon