Elwha River Dam Removal Case Study - What Can We Learn?
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- Опубликовано: 16 сен 2024
- Two dams were removed on Washington's Elwha River, allowing salmon, steelhead, and other species to expand to habitat which had been inaccessible for decades. John McMillan, Science Director for Trout Unlimited's Wild Steelhead Initiative explains what scientists have discovered in the years following the dam removal.
This is the keynote presentation of the 14th Annual Mat-Su Salmon Science and Conservation Symposium. The symposium is presented by the Mat-Su Basin Salmon Habitat Partnership. Learn more about the partnership's work at www.matsusalmon.org
Back in 1996 my High School Environmental Club traveled to WA DC to lobby for the removal of these damns. Watching this video on the fishery recovery in this river is one of the highlights of my adult life. This gives me some hope that all the work we do on environmental stewardship, protection and restoration is absolutely worth it. Thank you for sharing your work.
You and the others will always know that you had a major impact on helping rivers throughout North America.
Yeh ok if you’re a salmon!
I've been waiting for a video like this. There are now loads of vids on yt about dam removal, but this is the first one I've found that documents the success of the fishery improvements post dam removal.
I wrote an op-ed supporting dam removal that was published in the NYT during the debates prior to the first major dam removal projects in ~1999. It seemed likely these projects would succeed, but it's heartening to know for a fact that they have, and that some of the naysayers are now recognizing that they were wrong.
The combination of ongoing dam removal projects and the reintroduction of beavers into watersheds from which they'd been extirpated gives me a lot of hope that we may actually be able to bring back our fisheries to near historical levels, while improving water quality and all the other natural systems they affect.
Thanks for sharing.
I've been knee deep in beaver restoration videos for the last week. Absolutely love it.
"Though the of the world are increasingly complex, the solutions remain embarrassingly simple."
@@cholst1- they can help so many of the problems we face
I’ve watched a number of videos like this one from a number of rivers where dams have been removed. Before and after studies have been made, and in some cases underwater videos have been taken…all in all I’ve been fascinated by how quickly wildlife has reclaimed their historical habitats. Yes, in some cases humans have helped, as it should be. However, they have only helped, not taken over nature’s efforts. Kudos to all folks such as yourselves who make all these efforts to right what has been done, from the folks, especially thé Indigenous peoples and others who have worked for, in some cases, decades to accomplish this. Keep up the good work and being an inspiration for other, similar, projects.
View 495 lives in Australia. Congratulations on this reversal of damaging interference with the river and such excellent outcomes.. very interesting, thank you,
Bravo, it's inspiring to see humanity fixing the mess they created in ignorance.
I am not sure how this film came up but view 458 lives in England - and I found this absolutely fascinating! I think YT opens up the world so that one sees some of the good things which are happening - as opposed the gloom, panic and virtue signalling that seems to make the news. What an impressive example of collection of different interest groups working together in a community. We do not have steelhead trout in the UK but I am assuming what has been good for these fish has been good for local people, a finer river, increased tourism and food for fish, birds and humans!
4 months later and I’m only viewer 7450 and also from England. It’s a shame more people haven’t seen this excellent video. Maybe it’s a tad long for todays short attention span viewers?
john M, the cool of conservation, is the most respected, advocate for wild steelhead, great man
This is so encouraging now to see the summer steelhead returning from the brink.
Take a drink every time he asks a “great question”😉
Awesome video, thank you
Great job!
Great news! Thanks for this video.
Very interesting. I always thought that dam removal projects were pushed for environmental reasons. But have learned that a lot of these dams are way past their lifespan. So it's either spend the money on renovations or removal. The dams served their purpose and sadly had unintended consequences. Glad to see a removal success story!
Have you tried sinking seed for germination before draining? Many seeds will settle in the sediment and depending on timing the settled seed should either germinate at a specific time or in exposure to heat. Sediment stabilization can be achieved through the use of many annual and perennial plants and shrubs then with stabilization you can overplant. This may help with the post removal rain events and much of the fine sediment. Arial seeding of rice is common these days but steep confining terrain may be prohibitive.
Good job
When do the nets go in?
This is a great positive story on what happens when you let Mother Nature do her thing naturally. With the drought continuing this natural reproduction will become increasingly important. If the Chinooks can come back strong, that would be amazing.
Out of curiosity, there must be a reason why hatcheries don't just fertilize the eggs and place them directly into the river in man made reds instead of raising them in a hatchery for a time then releasing them. It would seem that would be the best way to keep the "Native" fish population ecosystem and avoid the hatchery fish acclimation problem that I have seen as a result of being fed instead of having to learn from day one how to survive as a wild fish from inception. I realize the attrition rate is much higher when doing it but it I just don't understand why not provide more reds to compensate rather then raise fish to a certain size then release. It would seem that the more reds means more fish and better acclimated fish that can survive and be wild. Can someone explain that for me if you can. Thanks.
You might be on to something there. Smarter not harder is the way to go
Anyone? I would really like an answer to this question.
Cause there would be 30 pound dolly vardens eating up all the vulnerable baby salmon.
@@stephenarajo5070 That kind of makes sense. So if it was natural meaning large numbers of real salmon laying those same eggs what's the difference? My thinking was if we simulated a larger population of salmon creating more reds and thus significantly more eggs by placing them directly in the river, your saying the Dollies would eat more fry? Or are you saying that the ecosystem is so upside down that in the past when there were very large populations of salmon laying eggs there weren't as many Dollies to eat their eggs? So what will happen when and if there comes a time when our artificial supplementing via hatchery fish restores the returning fish to numbers that leave millions of more reds hence eggs in the rivers naturally? What prevents the Dollies from eating up all their fry? I really want to understand. Am I being wrong headed somewhere in this thinking? Maybe I need to do more research but any information you could provide would be appreciated.
I watched a documentary where natives told how their ancestors would collect eggs and populate different waterways. It seems like a pretty simple process. I'm also wondering why they don't try that.
I wish 🤞 and hope we can remove all dams in North America 🌎. I believe that this would rejuvenate the world in ways that we cannot comprehend until we experience the impacts.
Now just open the fishery. That will change their denial real quick.
Can't the fish go thru the dams to save them or dams be rebuilt so that fish can go thru it.
look up information regarding fish ladders. There are mixed results with them but there are other issues just beyond fish passage and dams generally have broad, negative impacts on fish habitat in rivers.
@@stun3282 wouldn't ladders make it worse it should have free flow water for the fish.
Just like human forest had its resting.time at night..i think we.need to reduce lights at night time well atleast 4 hours totally lights out near green plants.
Damming the large salmon rivers was a crime. They had plenty of non salmon rivers to dam but did not. One dam filling Grand Canyon would produce more water and electricity than all dams combined and no migratory salmon fish there plus it is where water IS desperately needed.
Lake Powell, lake Mead and the Colorado river are going dry. There is no water to fill the Grand canyon.
Build more dams. Store fresh water. We’re running out of fresh water. Why deplete a valuable resource?
They get to save the planet and blow stuff up? Are they hiring? 😂😂😂
Imagine if it is not removed... more sediments