Water Released From Elwha Dams to Support Chinook

Officials from Olympic National Park, which owns the two massive Elwha and Glines Canyon dams on the Elwha River, will be helping resident fish this fall by increasing the dam flow  into the river.

From Peninsula Daily News:

OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — Additional water is being released from the dams on the Elwha River to augment a low stream flow and protect Chinook salmon redds, or egg nests, below the lower dam.

The river’s average flow for early October is approximately 648 cubic feet per second; even with the current augmented flows, the river is flowing at 353 cubic feet per second, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The augmented flows were authorized by Karen Gustin, park superintendent, in collaboration with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe, which operates a hatchery on the river west of Port Angeles.