Elwha River East Delta, Washington State, USA. Located on the northern Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, USA, the Elwha River system, including the delta and shoreline, is part of the homeland of the Lower Elwha Klallam (LEKT) people. The Elwha River is the location of one of the largest dam removal projects in the world. Two (nearly) century-old large dams were removed from the Elwha River watershed during 2011–2014, which reinitiated watershed ecosystem processes and liberated upwards of 18 million tonnes (Mt) or approximately ∼9 million cubic meters of silt, sand, and gravel to the river and nearshore. The Elwha drift cell is large (linear distance is 20 km) and includes a number of key nearshore ecosystem landforms and functions that are critical for coastal ecosystem function. Prior to dam removals, the Elwha nearshore was severely degraded by sediment starvation due to in-river dams, shoreline armoring, and lower river alterations. Dam removals restored some ecosystem connections; however, shoreline armoring and lower river alterations remained.

While unarmored shorelines in the drift cell responded rapidly to sediment delivered subsequent to dam removal, armored shorelines of the Elwha drift cell continued to be steep and coarse-grained. Remaining shoreline armor therefore became one of the highest remaining restoration projects for the Elwha system. From 2016–2017, approximately 4700 m³ of large riprap (shoreline armor) was removed from over 650 meters of the armored Elwha River east delta within the Elwha drift cell. Shoreline response was immediate and within the first tidal cycle the beach became finer and broader. Ecosystem response subsequently followed. These conditions have persisted not only at the restoration site, but up to six kilometers away. A decade after one of the largest dam removal projects in the world, the Elwha River and nearshore corridor continue to restore. (Photograph taken September of 2017 by Dave Parks, Coastal Watershed Institute (CWI), Port Angeles, Washington.)