Nooksack Dam Removal Time Lapse

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.

The removal of McKinley Dam in the Rattlesnake Wilderness in Montana is a milestone in the restoration of the Rattlesnake Creek watershed near Missoula. This video documents the dam removal process undertaken by project partners to enhance the wilderness character and ecological and recreational benefits of this remote landscape.

Produced by Jeff Chen, the "Return the Salmon Relay" tells the story of a relay event hosted by the Eklutna River Restoration Coalition in September 2022. Coalition leaders and community members gathered to return the salmon to Eklutna Lake by relaying plush salmon along the Eklutna River. The event brought attention to Coalition and community efforts to return water to the Eklutna River which has run mostly dry for 90 years. The Eklutna Dam was removed in 2018, and in 2021, the utility companies released water to the river for 2 weeks to support scientific studies. This was the first time water was returned to the river in living memory of the community. The Coalition is advocating for a long-term return of water to river to support all five species of salmon who call the Eklutna River home.

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.

Video produced by California Trout: California Trout ranks Matilija Dam, located in the Ventura River watershed, as one of the top 5 dams to remove in California. Originally designed for water storage and flood control, Matilija has filled with sediment over the years, reducing water storage and rendering the dam obsolete. Removing Matilija Dam will reconnect access to critical spawning and rearing habitat for the endangered Southern California steelhead.

Rich Reid’s documentary Watershed Revolution asks the question “What is a Watershed?” The answer is explored through interviews with concerned citizens working to protect and preserve the Ventura River watershed while stunning high definition cinematography highlights the beauty of the river. The unique challenges faced by a river that is the sole source of water for a thirsty community are brought to life and will change forever your definition of a watershed.

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.

Water is meant to move, to flow, to meander. Tanna Engdahl, spiritual leader with the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, travels to the former confluence of three creeks at the headwaters of the Washougal River. Tanna takes stock of what was lost when this confluence was dammed to form a lake for a summer camp in the 1950s, and what Columbia Land Trust and the Cowlitz Tribe stand to regain by conserving the surrounding forest, removing the dam, and restoring the Washougal River system for salmon, steelhead, wildlife, and people alike. Video produced for Columbia Land Trust by Zach Putnam Productions.