Photos: Respecting the dirt of the Elwha

A living river is as much about water as dirt. The sediment that carves riverine pathways, provides gravel for fish to lay their eggs and nourishes downstream beaches is a central focus along Washington’s Elwha River, where the largest dam removal and restoration in U.S. history continues to unfold. E. Tammy Kim / Al Jazeera America

In August 2014, a team of geologists hikes the hot, shrubby expanse of what used to be an artificial lake behind the upper Elwha dam. Dirt experts Tim Randle and Jennifer Bountry from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation measure the depth of the former lakebed. E. Tammy Kim / Al Jazeera America

Millions of tons of mud, sand, silt and gravel — enough to fill 11 football fields to the height of the Empire State Building — accumulated behind the two Elwha dams. All this sediment is now making its way downriver, out toward the sea. Here, Laurel Stratton, a graduate student at Oregon State University, examines the dirt from a core sample. E. Tammy Kim / Al Jazeera America

In the estuary where juvenile salmon mature before entering the Pacific, fine-grain sediment is essential habitat for the tiny eels and smelts on which they feed. Circular ripples appear on the surface of small ponds. “Those are all fish, probably chinook,” says Anne Shaffer, marine biologist and executive director of the Coastal Watershed Institute. “The nearshore is nursery ground, an area of refuge and growth, and, for some species, spawning.” E. Tammy Kim / Al Jazeera America

A healthy river deposits sand and gravel along the shoreline, guarding against erosion and floods. But while the dams were up, the retirees and vacationers along Place Road, just west of the river mouth, had grown used to a beach of ankle-twisting rocks. Today, they look out onto a new quarter-mile of sand fit for crabs, clams, surfers and beachcombers. “I was against taking the dams out,” says Jon Thulin, one of the Place Road residents pictured here. “But we can all see the benefit [now].” E. Tammy Kim / Al Jazeera America

New sediment carried downstream is transforming the shore along the Strait of Juan de Fuca. This close-up photograph is from October 2013, just two years after the demolition of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams began. Sue Hayek

East of the Elwha River, Port Angeles has long battled the erosion of its sediment-starved bluffs. Residents once dumped their garbage right over the edge, letting trash and car parts pile up on the beach. In the 1970s, the city compacted this waste but buried it atop the cliffs, resulting in erosion and leaking trash. Now, as the river restoration brings more fine sediment to the beach, Port Angeles must relocate the landfill and reinforce the metal sea wall below, at a cost of $21.3 million. Tom Roorda

The landfill atop the bluffs “is a case where the city and the state and everyone else is trying to deal with this sin of the past,” says Jeffree Stewart, environmental planner for the Washington Department of Ecology. Restoring the Elwha River is another act of local atonement: making up for 100 years of lost dirt. E. Tammy Kim / Al Jazeera America