When dams come down, what about the ocean?

[hunter]

In late August, Steve Rubin, a fish biologist with the United States Geological Survey, will dive into the frigid, briny water of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, roughly a mile from the mouth of the Elwha River. It will be Rubin’s 12th dive at the site since the Elwha Dam was breached in 2011, sending a century’s worth of accumulated sediment surging downstream.

The megatons of sediment that were released by the dam’s removal were expected to help rebuild the twists and turns of the Elwha River. But some feared that they might end up suffocating the coastal ecosystems near the delta.

--more--

https://www.nationalobserver.com/2024/05/14/news/when-dams-come-down-what-about-ocean

To make a longer story short: There were big changes at first as sediment covered up the seafloor and blocked out sunlight, but in the long run the system rebalanced itself and it's all good. Two environmentally destructive and potentially dangerous dams are gone.

[GreenWave]

1. Score one for Mother Nature!

[SarahD]

2. A friend of mine does that.

Or did until she retired. She surveyed various marine life near the mouth of the Elwa. It seems to be doing well. By the way, it's a surfing spot when the ocean swells come in at just the right angle.

[captain queeg]

3. Sediment behind dams is an issue most people don't think about when discussing removal.

I think of the dams in the lower Snake river and the proposed removal. The sediment from the Palouse all ends up there and there must be cubic miles worth accumulated.