Elwha River: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

The Elwha River is a 45-mile-long river located in the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. It rises near Mount Christie in the Olympic Mountains within the Olympic National Park and drains into the Strait of Juan de Fuca at Port Angeles.

The river is the site for the biggest dam removal project in history. The Elwha River Ecosystem and Fisheries Restoration Act of 1992 authorized the Secretary of the Interior to acquire and remove two dams on the river and restore the ecosystem and native anadromous fisheries. The 108-foot-tall Elwha Dam and the 210-foot-tall Glines Canyon Dam will be dismantled in stages starting in 2008.