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Biggest in the World? (??)
In yesterday's conversation with Earthfix reporter Ashley Ahearn, she told us about the three-part series she's doing on the dam removal project on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. Ashley said that taking out the two dams on the Elwha River is expected to do amazing things for salmon. And, in a casual conversation before the show, she also mentioned that she heard it was the biggest dam removal project in the world. The world!
So as I was pulling together the research for Dave, I wanted to find a definitive article (or a knowledgeable expert) that said that. Unfortunately, I failed. Plenty of articles called it the biggest in the world, but many more of them — including the New York Times — said it was just the biggest in U.S. history.
A day after the segment aired, I got a call back from one of the half dozen people I called on Friday. Brian Cluer with NOAA Fisheries said the scale of this project is staggering. The smaller of the two dams is five times bigger than any that have been removed in the U.S. so far — and the bigger one is five times bigger than that! But the biggest in the world? He didn't know. He did say that in most of the world (with the notable exception of Europe) the emphasis is on dam construction, not removal.
The bottom line: We're still working on it. If you know the answer to this question, get in touch with us. Email me directly, I'm dying to know — afrost at opb dot org. I'd keep looking, but as we say in the biz, I'm on deadline.
