The removal of the Glines Canyon Dam on the Elwha River from September 14th through November 4th in 2011 was the largest dam removal project in the United States. It allowed the Elwha to flow freely for the first time in nearly 100 years. It also opened more than 70 miles of river and stream habitat to five species of Pacific salmon and steelhead.

Now a new documentary called Undamming The Elwha, produced in partnership with Earth Fix, is airing on KCTS - Western and Central Washington's PBS affiliate. If you go to the KCTS page, you can watch the documentary as a whole or clips about what dams have done to the Elwha, the salmon runs and more ecosystem restoration.

About the documentary:

It begins as a glacier. Then a trickle. The Elwha builds into a swift river, rushing through the temperate rain forests of Olympic National Park.

For the last 100 years, two hydroelectric dams have blocked this river and severed its migrating salmon from many miles of prime spawning habitat upstream. The Elwha’s salmon have all but disappeared.

Now, the dams are coming down in the largest dam removal project ever attempted and the second-largest environmental restoration effort in U.S. history. What happens here could decide the fate of future restoration projects around the country and the world.

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