Meander: Restoring Wildboy Creek

In September 2024, the Cowlitz Indian Tribe removed Kwoneesum Dam, a 55-foot high, 425-foot long concrete and earthen dam on Wildboy Creek, which flows into the lower Washougal River, a tributary of the Columbia River. The dam was originally built to create a 9-acre recreational pond for a Camp Fire Girls summer camp, but no longer served a purpose after the camp closed in the mid-1980s. Removal of the dam supports the Tribe’s fishery restoration work, eliminates a safety hazard for 21 downstream residences, complements other efforts to revitalize the Washougal River watershed, and opens 6.5 miles of habitat for summer and winter steelhead, as well as coho, listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. This video tells the history of the dam site and documents the removal and restoration processes undertaken by the Tribe and the Columbia Land Trust.

The Cold Water Connection Campaign is a partnership between Trout Unlimited, the Wild Salmon Center, the Coast Salmon Partnership, regional tribes, and state and federal agencies working to prioritize and remove the most impactful migration barriers for salmon, steelhead and other native fish on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. Video courtesy of: Trout Unlimited. Videographer: Liam Gallagher.

Overview of the 2022 removal of Nelson Dam, an eight-foot-high concrete structure that crossed the Naches River, the largest tributary of the Yakima River. The barrier blocked fish passage where the Yakama Nation holds treaty rights to fish for cultural, spiritual, and economic reasons. The removal was a highly collaborative effort that now opens fish passage while still providing water diversions for agriculture and urban uses.

This video, produced by FLOWPV, provides a post-construction fly-through tour of the Nelson Dam Removal Project, allowing viewers to immerse themselves in the active floodplain and learn about the project elements along the way.

To celebrate its first five years of work, Open Rivers Fund worked with film director Jason Jaacks to produce a documentary highlighting several dynamic dam removal projects and partnerships that are reshaping waterways across the American West. The film takes a look at aging dams and the problems they cause, answering a question made increasingly urgent by climate change: How can we rethink our water management to benefit all?

Produced by Mezia Creative Media, this video documents the Nez Perce Tribe's efforts to build a renewable energy network that will replace the amount of hydroelectric power supplied by the Snake River Dams. The Nez Perce and other Tribes in the region are working to restore historic salmon runs on the Snake River.  

The Tulalip Tribe Natural Resources Department leads the way in a fish restoration project in Carnation, WA. Natasha Coumou Assistant Restoration Ecologist explains why.

Nooksack Dam was removed in the summer of 2020, opening 17 miles of habitat for fish, including Chinook salmon, an important part of the culture and diet of the Nooksack and Lummi tribes. Removal also reduces safety risk and maintenance costs to the City of Bellingham, while ensuring long-term reliable water supply and providing jobs. The project is a win-win-win for salmon, Puget Sound orca whale populations, and the community.

Removal of Nelson Dam on the Naches River tributary to the Yakima River will open 309 miles of habitat for coho and Chinook salmon, improve kayaking and fishing, provide irrigation water for the City of Yakima, stimulate the economy with hundreds of new jobs, and reduce flood risk.

Watch a timelapse of the removal of the Nooksack Middle Fork Dam Removal Project, which took place in July 2020. Removal of the dam is listed as one of NOAA Fisheries’ top recommended actions to recover Puget Sound Chinook salmon populations.