Dam Safety

The Elwha's who lived along the lower river knew they were on the flood plain. Living there was not particularly unusual, since both Indian and non-Indian settlements were often placed in such areas. They had been able to accommodate natural flooding, but the Elwha Dam added a new dimension. Several tribal elders remember sitting up at night during storms, fearing that the power company would suddenly open the spillways - to prevent stressing the dam during high water - and release a sudden surge into the lower valley. Chronic flooding, aggravated by this sudden artificial peaking, made life in the rainy season difficult.

Even in recent years the opening of spillway gates appears to have contributed to increased flooding on the reservation, harassed families fishing in the river, and destroyed their nets. But this harassment was to prove minor compared to the hazard posed by the old patchwork dam.

In 1968 President Nixon had placed the land purchased in the 1930;s in "reservation status." This was one aspect of the resurgence of the Elwha Tribe. By the mid-1970's the Tribe was fairly well organized, had obtained access to treaty fishing rights and was beginning a program of economic development. With federal assistance a hatchery, community center and juvenile group home were all built on the reservation. The Tribe then began to tackle housing, its major problem. At long last the Elwha's, most of them scattered about in substandard habitation, were going to live on their land and in decent homes.

The Tribe obtained a $1,200,000 funding commitment from the Department of Housing and Urban Development for the construction of 25 homes on the reservation. It also, with the assistance of the Corps of Engineers, began a flood control study with the goal of increasing the habitability of the reservation. The community which had been so effectively broken up was coming back together. With fishing rights, the hatchery and housing the Elwha would be able to keep their families together and establish a realistic standard of living. The Tribe became increasingly confident and effective.

At about the same time the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission required Crown Zellerbach to obtain a periodic safety report on Elwha and Glines Dams. The engineering firm retained by Crown Zellerbach studied Elwha Dam and reported that it was unsafe, subject to failure during high flood levels. Crown disagreed on the levels of flooding possible in the river and declined to undertake repairs.

In due course the Corps of Engineers became aware of the negative safety report. Because a dam had recently failed in Idaho (another was about to fail in Georgia), government agencies were extremely sensitive to dam safety issues. The Corps advised HUD of the problem and notified the Tribe that unless the dam safety issue was resolved it would lose the flood control project. Without a levee designed by the Corps, HUD would not allow housing in the floodplain. In addition, the existence of a flood hazard upstream would itself block both HUD and Corps funding under the Environmental Policy Act.

But Crown did not agree with the engineering conclusions concerning flood magnitude and dam failure. It informed all concerned that it did not intend to repair the dam. HUD and the Corps advised the Tribe that unless some agency with jurisdiction over dam safety ordered repair of the dam, they would withdraw their funding.

The Tribe's momentum had stopped. It had spent its own limited energies taking care of some else's complex engineering problem and it did not wish to delay housing until dam repairs were certified and a new flood control project could be studied and put in place. It purchased land away from the reservation and put a HUD housing project there. The fragmentation of the Tribe continued.