Kwoneesum Dam Removal Complete!
6.5 miles of upstream salmon and steehabitat restored at Washington's Wildboy Creek
The Cowlitz Indian Tribe and Columbia Land Trust are proud to announce that Kwoneesum Dam, a defunct dam in Skamania County, has been removed, immediately restoring 6.5 miles of fish passage to benefit salmon and steelhead in the Washougal River watershed. This timelapse video shows the deconstruction of the dam itself, which began this spring after nearly 20,000,000 gallons of water were pumped from the 9-acre reservoir and flows diverted from upstream tributaries were temporarily re-routed. The deconstruction process started in May and finished during September of 2024.
“The removal of Kwoneesum Dam marks a significant milestone in our journey to restore the natural beauty and ecological balance of our ancestral lands, which in this case has been in the process for many years,” said William Iyall, Cowlitz Indian Tribe Chairman.
In addition to the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and Columbia Land Trust, the dam removal was made possible by many other partners and community members, brought together by the goal of restoring fish passage to key spawning habitat and improving a critical natural ecosystem.
“Columbia Land Trust is here to deliver conservation that lasts, and that has meaning for the peoples and places where we work,” said Land Trust Executive Director Meg Rutledge. “Being able to collaborate with the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, who always have been and always will be leaders in stewarding and caring for lands and people, is a privilege. The dam removal is the first phase in our shared vision for the restoration of the ecological integrity of this landscape.”
We thank all those who supported our vision of environmental stewardship, and we can’t wait to see how this landscape evolves over the coming months, years, and beyond, now that natural ecological processes have been restored.
Project Partners
The land purchase was funded with grants from the Open Rivers Fund, a program of Resources Legacy Fund supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, as well as funding from Washington Department of Ecology’s water quality program, Washington Salmon Recovery Funding Board, M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, Hugh and Jane Ferguson Foundation, Wiancko Family Foundation, The Conservation Alliance, private donors, a program-related investment loan from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Pacific Northwest Resilient Landscapes Initiative with support from the Land Trust Alliance, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and Oregon Community Foundation.
The dam removal was funded by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service – Environmental Quality Incentives Program, NOAA Fisheries Office of Habitat Conservation, Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office – Salmon Recovery Funding Board & Brian Abbott Fish Barrier Removal Board, Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund , Open Rivers Fund, a program of Resources Legacy Fund supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.