Thursday, August 9, 2007: 1:30 PM-5:00 PM
Blrm Salon III, San Jose Marriott
OOS 44 - Elwha River restoration: Dam removal, ecological framework, and baseline studies
Restoration using dam removal is attracting growing interest and application. As dams age, managers, policy makers, and the public face choices about maintaining, refitting, or removing outdated structures. In 2009, a historic restoration project will begin on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula with the planned removal of two Elwha River dams in place for over 90 years. The Elwha River Restoration Project will represent the largest project of its kind ever attempted. The project will restore over 115 km of salmon spawning habitat, most of it protected within Olympic National Park. Prior to dam construction, the Elwha supported 10 distinct runs of anadromous fish including all 5 species of Pacific salmon. The spring Chinook were legendary for their size, with fish weighing as much as 45 kg. The dams changed almost everything. They have disrupted fluvial, floodplain, and ecosystem processes critical to maintaining properly functioning habitat for fish and other species. Successfully removing these dams will potentially have far-reaching implications for other large dam removals. This session will use the Elwha as a model system. Speakers will outline the Elwha ecological framework, the research coordination process, and the projects already underway gathering pre-removal baseline data. Following the recommendations of several planning workshops, these studies include: determining the population status and distribution of fish; tracking marine-derived nutrients; distribution of invasive plant species; stable isotope levels of carnivores; distribution and abundance of avian communities; and an assessment of nearshore geology, oceanography, and biological communities. Scientists from diverse agencies and institutions are collaborating and coordinating these projects through an NSF-funded Elwha Research Consortium. To consider the broad ecological scope of dam removal effects, speakers will address riparian restoration from diverse perspectives. These perspectives will include: aquatic, marine, and terrestrial zones; abiotic components, producers, and consumers; ecosystem function and organism-based views; and ecological forecasting post dam removal. The session will present diverse research approaches to inform large dam removal and river restoration programs. Many lessons from the session will be broadly applicable to restoration projects involving large dams. These lessons will include: 1.The importance of baseline data prior to restoration, and strategies for obtaining those data with limited time and resources. 2.Integration and coordination among research groups. 3.Direct and indirect linkages in space and time. 4.Interactions between biotic and abiotic components. 5.Approaches to bound uncertainties in restoration forecasts. 6.Forecasting and addressing undesired effects of dam removals.
Organizer:Jeffrey Duda, US Geological Survey Biological Resource Division
Co-organizer:John McLaughlin, Western Washington University
Moderator:Jerry Freilich, National Park Service
1:30 PMOOS 44-1Assessing levels of marine-derived nutrients in the Elwha River basin prior to dam removal
Jeffrey J. Duda, US Geological Survey, Sarah Morley, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Holly Coe, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Dorothy M. Chase, US Geological Survey Biological Resources Division, George Pess, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Mike McHenry, Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Brian Winter, National Park Service, Jerry Freilich, National Park Service, Reg R. Reisenbichler, US Geological Survey Biological Resources Division
1:50 PMOOS 44-2Dam removals in the public eye: Effective outreach and GIS visualization
Ross E. Freeman, American Rivers
2:10 PMOOS 44-3Predicting floodplain and fish community responses to the removal of the Elwha River dams, Washington State, USA
George Pess, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Mike McHenry, Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Tim Beechie, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Sarah Morley, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Jeffrey Duda, US Geological Survey Biological Resource Division, Holly Coe, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Kris Kloehn, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Martin Liermann, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
2:30 PMOOS 44-4Geomorphic responses to dam removal: New insights from flume and field experiments
Gordon Grant, US Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Greg Stewart, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, Chris Bromley, University of Nottingham, Sarah Lewis, Oregon State University
2:50 PMOOS 44-5Structure, composition, and recruitment of woody floodplain vegetation along the Elwha River
Patrick B. Shafroth, US Geological Survey
3:10 PM Break
3:20 PMOOS 44-6Nearshore habitat restoration through dam removal, Elwha River, Washington
Jon Warrick, US Geological Survey, Guy Gelfenbaum, US Geological Survey, Matt Beirne, Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Jim Johannessen, Coastal Geologic Services, Helen Berry, Washington Department of Natural Resources, Don Rothaus, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Jim Norris, Marine Resources Consultants, Ian Fraser, Marine Resources Consultants, J. Anne Shaffer, WDFW
3:40 PMOOS 44-7Responses of fish occurring in shallow subtidal and intertidal habitats to sediment changes resulting from removal of the Elwha River dams
Kurt L. Fresh, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Joshua Chamberlin, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Anna N. Kagley, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Larry Ward, Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Nichole Sather, Batelle, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Mindy Rowse, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, J. Anne Shaffer, WDFW
4:00 PMOOS 44-8Benthic invertebrate and periphyton assemblages in floodplain habitats above, between, and below the Elwha River dams: Forecasting response to dam removal
Sarah Morley, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Jeffrey Duda, US Geological Survey Biological Resource Division, Holly Coe, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Mike McHenry, Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Kris Kloehn, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, George Pess, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Bill Eaton, Peninsula College, Martin Liermann, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
4:20 PMOOS 44-9Using seed banks to discover how dams affect riparian vegetation diversity on the Elwha River
Rebecca L. Brown, Eastern Washington University
4:40 PMOOS 44-10Forecasting avian responses to Elwha River dam removals
John F. McLaughlin, Western Washington University, Carly J. Gelarden, Western Washington University

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