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Another critical component of the Elwha River Restoration project is the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Fish Hatchery, completed on schedule in May 2011. The tribe and NPS are primary partners in Elwha River Restoration. In early 2010, James W. Fowler Co. General Contractors of Dallas, Oregon began work on the $16.4 million replacement hatchery facility, funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The hatchery will allow tribal fisheries managers to expand and enhance hatchery operations during and after dam removal, allowing both more flexibility in production and more control at every phase of the production cycle. The tribe's hatchery program will help maintain existing Elwha River fish stocks during dam removal. The facility will produce chum, coho and pink salmon, as well as steelhead. The project includes the installation of fish culture facilities including additional raceways, early rearing and adult holding ponds as well as site and access road improvements, water supply and drainage pipelines, water supply wells and two buildings. The existing Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) rearing channel will continue to support the river's Chinook salmon population. |
Last updated: February 28, 2015