By GERRY O’KEEFE Puget Sound Partnership
THIS WEEK IS historic as we witness the start of the largest dam removal project in the nation.
The removal of the Glines Canyon and Elwha dams are also significant for the recovery of Puget Sound.
The Elwha River watershed is one of the most pristine watersheds in the state, with much of it protected in Olympic National Park.
Removing the Elwha dams will open high-quality spawning areas — increasing the populations of Puget Sound chinook salmon and helping to remove them from the federal list of threatened and endangered species.
It also will help us get closer to a healthy Puget Sound.
Many of us who live, work and play daily along the shores of Puget Sound don’t often notice the degradation that has happened over time to this state treasure.
Consider that more than 20 species have been listed as threatened or endangered, that there are massive fish kills in Hood Canal, that we’ve lost 90 percent of natural wetlands associated with estuaries and rivers, that we’ve hardened with bulkheads one-quarter of the Puget Sound shoreline and removed most of the old-growth forests.
The Sound’s health largely has been compromised by how we have covered up the land with houses, buildings and parking lots, how we treat our waste, how we power our homes and businesses and how we transport ourselves.
Our environment, our own health and our economy all are threatened by the Sound’s decline.
Add to this that 700,000 more people will move to the region by 2020, and we find ourselves facing a challenge unmatched in the region.
We know that cleaning up our mess — restoring our place — is necessary for all of us to prosper.
Reversing the trend will require bold action.
The status quo won’t get it done.
The Puget Sound Action Agenda, which is the multi-agency blueprint for restoring the Sound’s health, describes three changes needed to recover the Sound:
• Protect pristine areas.
• Fix those that are damaged.
• Reduce the sources of water pollution.
Removal of the dams hits two of those.
First, removal of the dams will return a once-wild river to its natural state, adding to the pristine nature of the Elwha watershed.
Second, removal of the dams and the accompanying restoration will help fix what was damaged.
Historically, the Elwha had some of the best salmon runs in Washington.
The river’s chinook were famous for the size and strength of the adults returning to spawn.
But 100 years ago, the dams were built, blocking salmon from 90 percent of their habitat.
Removing the dams will return the river to its natural state, giving fish access to more than 70 miles of pristine spawning habitat.
The river is expected to produce more than 300,000 returning adult salmon and steelhead annually, compared with 3,000 today.
One of the highest priorities in the action agenda is to rebuild entire ecosystems at a large scale in a variety of habitats and to focus on projects that improve the way nature functions to get the longest lasting returns.
Those types of projects will improve wildlife habitat, increase scenic values, improve animal populations and benefit recreation, tourism and our economy.
The action agenda says the right restoration in the right place will make a big difference.
Taking down the dams is the right restoration in the right place.
Will it fix Puget Sound entirely?
Certainly not.
But the collaborative, bold action we are celebrating in the Elwha is a step in the right direction.
We applaud the tribes, citizens, agencies, businesses and others who are leading the way to a healthier Puget Sound from which we all will benefit.
________
Gerry O’Keefe lives in Olympia and is the director of the Puget Sound Partnership, the state agency with the task of coordinating the environmental recovery of Puget Sound by 2020.
