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Home » Climate + Energy » Video: Breaching Elwha Dams, II

Video: Breaching Elwha Dams, II

Another week of dam removal.

Alan Durning

October 14, 2011

Editor’s note July 2025: We’re heartbroken over the devastating fuel spill into the Elwha River. It sets back more than a decade of recovery and revival of an iconic Cascadian ecosystem. Below we reshare our timelapse video of the 2011 removal of one of the Elwha River dams and a fervent hope for a resilient recovery.

I updated and edited the Glines Canyon Dam removal video I did last week. You’ll see that work slowed for a few days on the Glines Dam, perhaps because of the heavy rains rushing over the top.

If you want to see more about the Elwha, you should also check out American Rivers’ video. By the way, a big chunk of dam removal funding came from the too-little-appreciated US federal stimulus package of early 2009.

Thanks to the National Park Service for permission to use their webcam images in this video.

Talk to the Author

Alan Durning

Alan Durning, executive director, founded Northwest Environment Watch in 1993, which became Sightline Institute in 2006. Alan’s current topics of focus include housing affordability and democracy reform.

Talk to the Author

Alan Durning

Alan Durning, executive director, founded Northwest Environment Watch in 1993, which became Sightline Institute in 2006. Alan’s current topics of focus include housing affordability and democracy reform.

About Sightline

Sightline Institute is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank providing leading original analysis of democracy, energy, and housing policy in the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, British Columbia, and beyond.

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Thanks to Pamela Jull for supporting a sustainable Cascadia.

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