OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — Seven weeks before the ceremonial start of the razing of the Elwha River dams, the historic river channel is already taking shape.
Lake Aldwell and Lake Mills — formed when the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams were built in the early 20th century — have been lowered to their spillways, about a dozen feet below their fixed surface elevations.
The river is cutting a channel through the southern end of both reservoirs as it pushes sediment along, which is exactly what the National Park Service was going for in this stage of the landmark $325 million salmon restoration project.
“The flow is more pronounced than it was before,” Olympic National Park spokesman Dave Reynolds said.
“On the south end of the [Lake Aldwell] reservoir, you can see the river flowing to and through the lake, whereas that was once static.
“It’s pretty striking.”
Power generation ceased at both dams June 1. The lakes were lowered to their spill-ways — 18 feet in the case of Lake Aldwell — as Mother Nature took over the flow.
Reynolds said the lakes will likely drop another few feet when the seasonal runoff subsides, exposing even more of the former lake beds and deltas.
Last September, the National Park Service cut a 1,100-foot-long, 50-foot-wide channel in the delta that feeds Lake Mills.
It was intended to give the river a head start in eroding some 13 million cubic yards of sediment.
A recent Bureau of Reclamation survey found that the channel is now 300 feet wide.
“The erosion channel has certainly done its job,” Reynolds said. “We can see the difference.”
Scientists expect the old lake beds to begin to produce vegetation this fall or next spring.
The 108-foot-tall Elwha Dam was completed in 1913 and the 210-foot Glines Canyon Dam in 1927.
Both dams will begin to come down Sept. 17.
Special events highlighting the start of the work are planned Sept. 14-18, with Port Angeles hosting concerts and other dam removal events downtown.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.