I'll bet far fewer fish are harmed because of the breach than what the dam itself has harmed in the 95 years it blocked fish passage to 33 river miles worth of spawning grounds.
Same video now on YouTube.... http://youtu.be/-gJtvLnLJhU
You would have thought they'd blow out part of the top that way so much silt and mud wouldn't have covered everything downstream
There is not a lot of river below that dam, only about 3 miles, and some of that is backwater from the Columbia anyway. The winter rains will likely wash much of the fines down into the lake, and the coarser sediments might not be a bad thing after 98 years of nothing coming down the canyon. And while the sediment will undoubtedly have short-term impacts, the long-term benefits seem to me to be more than the short-term losses.
What? No white water rafters? :)
Larry ---sagefisher---
Larry, I think they were hidden by the kayakers.
Ed
Wonder how much of the dam structure will remain when they are done. It would be cool to leave part of it as a historical marker/reminder for future generations, much like what they've done with some of the mill dams around here.
When the dam first blew, there was a lot of silt thrust out the hole. I wonder how much of that silt was black sand, and how much gold was in the black sand.