RCN: Elwha Research Consortium

这个RCN项目支持一个研究财团，研究拆除华盛顿奥林匹克半岛埃尔瓦河上两座水坝的影响。《爱尔华恢复法案》（1992年）批准了有史以来规模最大的水坝拆除和河流修复工程。计划于2008年拆除水坝，将允许10个种群的溯河鱼类返回70英里的河流，这些河流被封锁了90年。该项目为研究河流系统的基本生态学提供了理想的条件。因为大坝以上的水在奥林匹克国家公园，这条河不受人类发展的影响。这笔拨款支持协调一个不断壮大的科学家联盟，以研究鲑鱼物种的回归；命运大木屑；水文、沉积物和水质；海洋营养物在森林食物网中的作用；控制入侵物种；以及其他潜在的话题。该联盟将制定章程，协调实地小组的工作，并为相互关联的研究建立实验设计。Elwha是一个示范理想条件下生态过程的大坝拆除模型系统。埃尔瓦的结果将告诉世界拆除大坝恢复河流的潜力和缺陷。

This RCN project supports a research consortium studying effects of removing two dams on the Elwha River on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. The Elwha Restoration Act (1992) authorized the largest dam removal and river restoration project ever attempted. Scheduled for 2008, removal of the dams will allow 10 populations of anadromous fishes to return to 70 river miles blocked for 90 years. The project offers ideal conditions for research into the fundamental ecology of river systems. Because water above the dams is in Olympic National Park, the river is free from impacts of human development.This grant supports coordination of a growing consortium of scientists to examine the return of salmon species; the fate of large woody debris; hydrology, sediments and water quality; the role of marine derived nutrients in forest food webs; control of invasive species; and other potential topics. The consortium will establish by-laws, coordinate work of teams in the field, and establish the experimental designs for the inter-connecting studies. The Elwha is a model system for dam removal demonstrating ecological processes under ideal conditions. Results from the Elwha will inform the world on the potentials and pitfalls of dam removal for river restoration.