Envisioning a Restored Elwha River

Depiction of the Lake Mills area before and after the removal of Glines Canyon Dam and draining of the reservoir.

Debates over restoration of river ecosystems can become contentious and polarizing: residents in an area faced with river management decisions may have a deep-rooted concern about large-scale landscape change, and fear of the unknown. 

People are often unsure what the impacts of restoration might look like, and what the consequences could be for their communities. Helping citizens and elected officials visualize the future is critical to the success of such significant projects.

Using powerful GIS software, we have generated a 3-dimensional photo-realistic digital model of the Elwha River valley that depicts the landscape before, during, and after dam removal. Aerial photography and satellite imagery is draped over terrain models and enhanced with photographic features of local significance such as natural landmarks, buildings, and riparian terrain.  Further detail is provided by survey records, historical photographs, reservoir bathymetry, and engineering drawings.

The model allows users to view not only dam deconstruction, but also the restoration of local vegetation and the related stabilization of reservoir sediments that will lead to ecosystem and salmon recovery. 

Explore for yourself

The following visualizations depict how the Elwha's reservoirs will drain, what might happen to sediment, and how the landscape will change following dam removal. Collectively, they illustrate how the Elwha River valley will be restored. Please note disclaimer and viewing tips below.

1) Watch timelapse animations over 20 years, from dam removal to full restoration (.wmv files - use Windows Media Player or newer versions of Real Player)

• Elwha Dam/Lake Aldwell area (1.44 MB)
• Glines Canyon Dam/Lake Mills area (1.62 MB)

2) Watch "fly-thrus" - animated movie clips (.avi files)

"Fly" up the Elwha Valley (current conditions) (6.72 MB)
Current conditions (5.93 MB) and future conditions (6.21 MB) of Elwha Dam/Lake Aldwell
Current conditions (1.82 MB) and future conditions (3.42 MB) of Glines Canyon Dam/Lake Mills

About these visualizations

While these images, time-lapse animations, and visualization movies are based on a wide variety of the best available data, the final product is still a result of some professional interpretation. River ecologists have a very good idea about how the river will respond following dam removal, but there is still some educated guesswork required when making any “future” visualization images. Finally, we went to every length to create as complete a model as possible, but various constraints prevented us from depicting those features of the landscape that are not as consequential to the restoration story. 

• Funding for this project was provided by the Hydropower Reform Coalition
• To learn more about the software we used, visit CommunityViz

Problems?

Some combinations of computer, operating system, and media viewers (i.e. Quicktime, Real Player, or Windows Media Player) occasionally lead to display problems. If your viewer is asking for additional "decoding" software, halt the download, and try installing this free codec file - Ligos Indeo Codec 5.11 - in the folder on your hard drive where your viewer software is located (usually on the C:Drive).

For technical questions, please contact us.

Want more?

These sample movies have been dramatically shortened and compressed for quicker downloading. If you would like to see the full length, hi-resolution movies, they are available on our Elwha CD-Rom (contact Amy Kober, 206-213-0330 x23) for more information.