The purpose of this special issue is to gather many of the scientific studies occurring in the Elwha River prior to dam removal. Researchers from academia, non-profit organizations, federal and state governments, and the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe are currently assessing baseline conditions in the watershed and other reference locations, a necessary step in designing studies that utilize a before-after-control-impact (BACI) experimental design ( Underwood 1994).
2000) and the concomitant effects to the river, estuarine, and marine environments following dam removal also add to the anticipation. Tracking the erosion of 18 million cubic yards of sediment that has accumulated in the reservoirs ( Childers et al.
The potential for rehabilitating salmon populations within a large watershed of a National Park is one of the many reasons why the Elwha River dam removal and ecosystem restoration is an alluring project. A map of the Elwha River Basin, Olympic Peninsula, Washington, USA
