The Elwha River Floodplain Restoration proposal includes 3 sub-projects designed to enhance existing habitat and restore the dominant physical processes in the river. Physical restoration is necessary to improve the remaining natural habitats in the 4.9 miles of accessible river below Elwha Dam. This reach has been degraded by ecological changes associated with the dams and human activities in the floodplain. Floodplain restoration efforts in the lower river are consistent with the implementation of the Elwha River Ecosystem Restoration Act (ERERA), which establishes a process for removal of two aging hydroelectric dams which block passage to 85% of the basin. Though floodplain restoration in the lower river was not fully addressed in the ERERA process, recent assessments suggest the need to actively restore floodplain habitat formation processes prior to dam removal. Our proposal includes the following elements: 1) construction of engineered logjams in both mainstem and side-channel habitats to provide multi-species fish habitat, 2) completion of previous habitat enhancement efforts began in 1996 at Boston Charlie Creek, and 3) removal of soil deposits associated with construction of the Tribes hatchery outfall to reactivate overflow channels. These deposits act as a perpendicular floodplain dike and their removal will facilitate reactivation of a historic estuary distributary. This proposal builds upon past floodplain restoration efforts conducted since 1994.
