Distribution and Grain Sizes of Deposited Reservoir Sediments, Seventy Years after Dam Construction

Melone, A. M.; Dub?, K. Vanderwal; ,

Distribution and Grain Sizes of Deposited Reservoir Sediments, Seventy Years after Dam Construction

by A. M. Melone, EHI, Redmond, United States,
K. Vanderwal Dub?, EHI, Redmond, United States,

Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Waterpower '91: A New View of Hydro Resources

Abstract:

The Elwha and Glines Canyon Hydroelectric Projects are located on the Elwha River in the northwest portion of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. The Elwha Dam was completed in 1914 and impounds Lake Aldwell. The Glines Canyon Dam was completed in 1927 and impounds Lake Mills, License applications are currently pending for each project before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). As part of the license review, FERC requested information on deposited sediments in the two reservoirs impounded by the dams. A field program was conducted to measure the thickness of deposited sediments and to recover deposited sediments for grain size analysis. The field program consisted of bathymetric mapping of each of the reservoirs, sub-bottom profiling of deposited reservoir bed sediments, recovery of bed sediments using piston core techniques, drilling through the delta deposits on Lake Mills, and a seismic refraction survey on the Lake Aldwell delta. Bathymetric maps, sediment isopach maps, and representative reservoir cross-sections were prepared based on the data collected during the field program.

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