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Saturday, September 17, 2011

The Elwha: Travel a river being reborn

While dam removal didn't start until September 2011, river restoration already was well under way by then. Reservoirs behind both dams were drawn down in preparation for dam removal, exposing vast deltas of sediment trapped behind the dams, and bringing the river back to life where it had been drowned under the lakes. In this photo, the Elwha River is seen again for the first time in 100 years. "First the sound," said Brian Cluer, of NOAA Fisheries, walking the delta. "Then the salmon."