The Grand River & 𝘿𝙖𝙢𝙉𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣: A film review

DamNation is a 2014 advocacy documentary made by Patagonia. At the heart of this film, it chronologizes the removal of two dams, the Elwha Dam and the Glines Canyon Dam, on the Elwha River in Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. Both of these dams were built in the early 1900s and produced hydroelectric power for the nearby city of Port Angeles. Both of these dams however lacked any form of fish passage and blocked upstream access to salmon species. The Elwha River once supported upwards of 400,000 migrating salmon, but this number has dwindled to less than 4,000 individuals.

Due to the age, low energy output, fish and sediment blockage, and safety concerns, the Elwha dam was never connected to bedrock leading to the potential of catastrophic dam failure, the two dams were to be removed. The Elwha Dam was removed in 2012 and the Glines Canyon Dam was removed in 2014. Both dams were removed to the price of between $40-60 million dollars with the total cost of the project around $350 million, making it the largest dam removal ever and the second most expensive habitat restoration ever behind the Florida Everglades restoration.

The removal of the dams allowed for native salmonids to return to their historic streams once again. Ongoing efforts to monitor the fish community has shown the Chinook Salmon are experiencing the most successful return rates with Steelhead trout showing good returns as well. Environmental DNA studies have shown that several species have migrated past the former dam sites.

This effort to remove the dams and restore the Elwha River can be related to an ongoing project to remove 5 small dams and restore the Grand River right here in Grand Rapids. Unlike the former dams on the Elwha River, the 6th street dam in the Grand River has a fish ladder for fish passage, however this is mostly meant to allow introduced salmonid species to pass around the dam while our native species, such as Lake Sturgeon, Lake Trout, Bass, Walleye, Catfish, and Suckers as well as many small bodied non-game fish struggle to get through the fish ladder and can struggle to get around the smaller lowhead dams. Hopefully, the removal of these five dams, along with the habitat restoration and greatly increased fish connectivity throughout the Grand River, will see increases in native fish population like they saw on the Elwha River.

Watch DamNation at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laTIbNVDQN8