North Olympic Peninsula Watershed Page

• For Salmon Recovery Planning and Watershed Pages by WRIA, click here
• For Salmon and Habitat Information Resources, click here

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Elwha Watershed Page – WRIA 18, Tier 1

A. Watershed Information:

1. portion of Elwha Watershed showing dams. Click on map for closer view

   Stakeholders:
• Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Clallam County, National Park Service, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, City of Port Angeles, Clallam County MRC
2. Tier explanation (from NOPLE Salmon Habitat Recovery Strategy):
   • Tier 1 according to Prioritized Watersheds in NOPLE Strategy
3. Bibliography:
   • Elwha Salmon Habitat Recovery
     • Elwha River Watershed Profile
     • Elwha Watershed Salmon Recovery Planning Efforts, June 30, 2004,
     • Shared Strategy Chinook Recovery Plan
     • USFW Bull Trout Recovery
   • Dam Removal
     • Elwha River Fish Restoration Plan
     • Elwha River Restoration (Olympic National Park)
     • Elwha River Restoration (Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe)
   • Elwha Nearshore
     • Framework
     • Report from Technical Workshop on Nearshore Restoration in the Central Strait of Juan de Fuca June 2004
     • Elwha Nearshore Consortium Newsletters
       • October 2005
       • May 2005
       • December 2004
   • Research
   • NOAA Fisheries Elwha Dam Removal Study
   • Partners in Elwha Restoration Education (ONP, NPS, DOI)
   • Elwha River Research Consortium (Cooperative Ecosystems Studies) (Fall 2005 issue)
   • Education
     • PBS Teacher resources on Elwha Dam Removal
   • Olympic Park Institute
   • Watershed Planning
     • Rulemaking
     • Approved Watershed Management Plan. Sections 2.4 through 2.11 focus on habitat and water quality issues that are subbasin-specific. In conducting watershed planning, the planning units made choices as to where to focus their attention. Greater attention has been given to the Dungeness River, Bell Creek, Siebert Creek, Morse Creek, Ennis Creek, Valley Creek, and the Elwha River and its lower tributaries. Watershed characterization for the other small creeks of WRIA 18 largely integrates the Limiting Factors Analysis (Haring 1999), supplemented by other regional plans, studies, and data that were available.
     • Watershed Planning

B. Salmon Habitat Recovery Priorities:

1. Salmonid stocks & their status. From State of Our Watersheds Report 2004, NWIFC SSHIAP, p. 132:
   

   SASSI Stocks (SaSI)	ESA Status	Origin	Prod_Type	1992 Stock Status	2002 (WDFW) Stock Status
   Elwha Chinook (Map)	Threatened	Native	Composite	Healthy	Depressed
   Elwha Coho (Map)	Species of Concern	Mixed	composite	Healthy	Unknown
   Elwha Fall Chum (Map)	Not warranted	Natiev	Wild	Unknown	Unknown
   Elwha Pink (Map)	Not warranted	Native	Wild	Critical	Critical
   Elwha Summer Steelhead (Map)	Not warranted	Unresolved	Unresolved	Deperssed	Unkown
   Elwha Winter Steelhead (Map)	Not warranted	Mixed	Wild	Depressed	Unknown
   Lower Elwha Bull Trout/Dolly Varden	Threatened	Native	Wild		Unknown (1998)
   Upper Elwha bull Trout/Dolly Varden	Threatened	Natrive	Wild		Unknown (1998)

2. Priority salmon stocks. Recovery efforts will be focused on the ESA-listed species (Puget Sound Chinook and Bull Trout) because they are ESA listed.
   • For recovery goals, click here.
   • For status of recovery plans, click here.
3. Priority Limiting Watershed Process & Habitat Features. From Elwha Watershed Salmon Recovery Planning Efforts, June 30, 2004, p1.

"Since 1911, the Elwha Dam, located at RM 4.9 on the Elwha River, has blocked anadromous fish passage to more than 70 miles of mainstem and tributary habitat in the watershed (DOI et al, 1994). In 1927, the Glines Canyon Dam was constructed 8.5 miles upstream of the Elwha Dam. Like the Elwha Dam, the Glines Canyon Dam was built without fish passage capability.

In addition to blocking anadromous fish passage, the two dams on the Elwha River have interrupted the natural function of the river ecosystem. Nearly 18 million cubic yards of sediment have been captured in the two reservoirs (ONP, 1995), affecting not only the lower river system, but also the estuarine and nearshore environment both east and west of the river mouth (from Ediz Hook to Crescent Bay). Similarly, the recruitment of large woody debris (LWD) from the upper watershed has been virtually eliminated. Finally, the two reservoirs serve as “heat sinks” during the summer, dramatically increasing water temperature. Consequently, the cumulative effects of the two dams leave the remaining habitat available to salmon below the Elwha Dam severely degraded. The presence of these two dams has been identified as the single largest factor limiting Elwha chinook salmon production (WCCC, 2000)."

4. Major actions to protect and improve: Dam removal is the single habitat project which can have a meaningful effect on the long-term viability of the Elwha chinook stock. It is anticipated that if current funding remains stable, that dam removal can begin as early as 2008, with completion by 2010.
5. Priority actions and areas: The following priority actions and areashave been specifically identified as priorities in resolving the priority limiting watershed processes and habitat features identified above: click here.
6. Community issues: The following community issues are relevant to protecting and restoring the above-identified priority salmonid stocks in this particular watershed:

C. Recovery Projects:

• The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe (LEKT) fisheries department has undertaken substantial efforts to restore mainstem and side-channel salmon habitat below the Elwha Dam. Work completed from 1994-1996 focused on lower river side-channel habitats, including Bosco and Boston Charley Creeks. These projects were relatively small scale, but have proven to be successful. Reestablishment of flows to Bosco Creek, in particular, has resulted in increased fish production for three species of salmon (coho, chum, and steelhead). Recent restoration efforts (1999-2003) have focused on restoration of floodplain features through the construction of engineered logjams, floodplain reforestation and removal of impediments to channel migration in the floodplain. To date, 17 logjams have been constructed in the mainstem Elwha River. These structures have proven stable, cost-effective and capable of positively affecting habitat. Early monitoring data also indicates that constructed logjams support 2-5 times the densities of juvenile salmonids than similar habitat types without wood (Pess et al, in press). The Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB) has supported these restoration efforts, as well as efforts to document their effects on fish habitat and populations.
• Elwha River Floodplain Restoration, PRISM # 00-1073, C3
• Elwha River Engineered Logjams, PRISM # 99-1913, C1

D. Monitoring:

• Habitat Monitoring / Adaptive Management: Monitoring activities associated with dam removal are an integral piece of successful recovery efforts. The detailed monitoring plan is found in the Elwha Fish Restoration Plan"
• Elwha Engineered Log Jams Monitoring Project
• Washington Department of Ecology (specific WRIA)
• WDOE 303(d) Map
• Streamkeepers of Clallam County
• USGS Real-time flow monitoring

E. Emerging Issues: