Elwha Ecosystem and Restoration Fisheries Permit Coordination Package Pre-Application Information Package Lead Agency National Park Service Cooperating Agencies Lower Elwha S'Klallam Tribe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs U.S. Bureau of Reclamation U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 995 July 1 9, 1 Elwha Ecosystem and Restoration Fisheries Permit Coordination Package Pre-Application Information Package Lead Agency National Park Service Cooperating Agencies Lower Elwha S'Klallam Tribe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs U.S. Bureau of Reclamation U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 995 July 1 9, 1 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from LYRASIS Members and Sloan Foundation http://archive.org/details/elwhaecosystemfiOOnati TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION iii PURPOSE AND NEED 1 1-1 1.1 Historyand Current Status 1-1 1.2 RestorationandMitigationActions 1-2 RESTORATION ACTIONS 2 2-1 2.1 General 2-1 2.2.2 Decommission Dams 2-1 2.2.2 Dam Removal 2-1 2.2.2.1 Elwha Dam Demolition 2-1 2.2.2.2 Glines Canyon Dam Removal 2-2 2.2.3 SedimentManagement 2-2 2.2.3.1 Erosion Approach Alternative 2-3 2.2.3.2 Slurry Pipeline Approach Alternative 2-3 2.2.4 Revegetation 2-4 2.2.5 Distribution ofProject Lands 2-4 2.2.6 Fish Restoration Program 2-5 2.2.6.1 Outplanting 2-5 2.2.6.2 Lower Elwha Tribal Hatchery Expansion 2-5 MITIGATION ACTIONS 3 3-1 3.1 Overview 3-1 3.2 WaterSupplyImpacts 3-1 3.2.2 Water Supply Mitigation 3-2 WDFW 3.2.2 Industrial and Supply 3-2 3.2.3 Tribal Hatchery Supply 3-2 3.2.4 City ofPortAngeles Supply 3-3 3.2.5 Private Wells 3-3 3.3 WaterQualityImpacts 3-3 WDFW 3.3.2 Industrial and Supply 3-4 3.3.2 Dry Creek WaterAssociation 3-4 3.3.3 Elwha Home OwnersAssociation 3-5 3.3.4 Private Wells 3-5 3.3.5 LowerElwha S'Klallam Tribal Septic Systems 3-5 3.4 FloodProtection 3-5 3.4.2 Industrial Supply System 3-6 3.4.2 LowerElwha Flood Control Levee 3-6 3.4.3 Private Levee nearMouth ofRiver on WestBank 3-6 3.4.4 City ofPortAngeles Ranney Collector 3-6 3.4.5 Washington State Fish RearingFacilities 3-6 3.4.6 Private Residences 3-7 3.4.7 River TrainingDike 3-7 3.4.8 OlympicHot Springs Road 3-7 3.5 Species ofSpecialConcern 3-7 Figures 1. Location Map v 2. Elwha River System and Watershed vi 3. Overview ofConstruction Schedule vii Table 1. ProbableActivities Associated with Restoration, Mitigation, and Flood Protection 1-3 Appendix: National Wetland Inventory Map Cover Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 INTRODUCTION Two hydropower dams, Elwha Dam at River Mile (RM) 4.9 completed in 1912 and Glines Canyon Dam at RM 13.5 built in 1926, were constructed on the Elwha River. The dams have blocked all 10 species ofanadromous salmon and trout from over 70 miles of quality river habitat for the past 84 years and seriously degraded the spawning and rearing habitat to the undammed portion of the river. The dams originally supplied power for the City of Port Angeles; now they supply only about one-third of the power used for the Diashowa paper mill. The U.S. Department ofInterior (DOI) proposes to fully restore the Elwha River ecosystem and native anadromous fisheries by decommissioning and removing the Elwha and Glines Canyon Dams. This would involve removing all necessary structures (including all or part ofboth dams), powerhouses, reservoirs created by dam construction, and associated facilities. Those actions directly required to remove structures and trapped sediment along the river and restore anadromous fisheries are termed restoration activities. Those actions required to mitigate impacts from restoration activities are termed mitigation activities. The proposed actions associated with the restoration of the Elwha River ecosystem and native anadromous fisheries include the following: allow a portion of trapped river sediments downstream construct a slurry pipeline revegetate reservoir land distribute project lands to other parties outplant anadromous fish on the upper river and tributaries expand the Elwha Tribal Hatchery Mitigation for impacts associated with the restoration process would include the following: • construct new water supply intake structures on the river • off-river fish rearing • provide flood protection • monitor resources Removing the dams and sediment will impact the river system during and after dam removal. Impacts to water quality and water users will result from transporting trapped sediment in the river water column. Impacts to the river location and flood stages will result from increased river bed elevation (aggradation) caused by transporting sediment in the water column. Short-term aggradation may cause higher flood stages in the period immediately following dam removal. In the longer term, the river would return to natural conditions and only minor changes to riverbed elevations would occur. Mitigation would be required to protect users ofriver water from short- and long-term impacts. Impacts include increased suspended sediment (SS) concentrations, river meander, and aggradation. Mitigation for domestic and industrial water users would include providing new intake structures, treating water, and providing flood protection. Flood protection would also be provided for residential homes near the river. in