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Contact: Western Washington University’s Huxley College of the Environment at (360) 650-3520.

The Elwha River delta

BELLINGHAM – University of California at Santa Cruz doctoral candidate and Western Washington University alumnus Ian Miller will present "Falling Dams, Eroding Shorelines and the Changing Elwha Coast" as part of Western’s Huxley College of the Environment speaker series at noon on Friday, Oct. 28 in Academic West room 304 on the Western campus. 

The presentation is free and open to the public.

Chronic shoreline erosion near the Elwha River delta on the Strait of Juan de Fuca is frequently attributed to the placement of two dams on the Elwha River in 1913 and 1925. The removal of the two dams, which began in September, is expected to provide a huge boost to the amount of coarse sediment introduced to the nearby coastal zone; how this new sediment will alter the past pattern of erosion remains to be seen.

Miller will present preliminary results of collected topography and bathymetry data collected on the beach and in nearshore zones; initial results suggest that the Elwha River is delivering coarse sediment to the coastal zone in quantities that exceed previous estimates, and that the river-mouth bar is growing.  These findings suggest that a simple model of coastal response to dam removal (i.e. remove the dams and the sub-aerial shoreline responds) may need to be revised. This dam removal provides an exceptional natural laboratory in which to test models of coastal response to new additions of sediment.

Miller is Washington Sea Grant’s new coastal hazards specialist on the Olympic Peninsula. He is based in part at Peninsula College in Port Angeles and in part at the University of Washington. Miller interacts with a variety of stakeholder groups, including commercial and recreational fishermen, tribes, marine industries, port districts, federal and state resource agencies and local elected officials. He conducted his undergraduate work at Western Washington University and lived in Port Angeles for 10 years before starting his doctoral program in Ocean Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Prior to joining WSG’s Marine Advisory Services, Miller served as the education director of Olympic Park Institute and as Washington field coordinator for the nonprofit Surfrider Foundation. His job is to help coastal communities address and mitigate hazards such as sea level rise and tsunamis, as well as help local entities develop long-term environmental plans.

Anyone interested in this topic is encouraged to come and participate; the presentation will include a question-and-answer period. The speaker series is held by Western's Huxley College of the Environment to bring together the environmentally minded community and other interested members of the ²ÝÁñÉçÇø and Bellingham communities.  Speakers address topics of contemporary environmental concern in the region and the world.

For more information, please contact the main office of Huxley College of the Environment, at (360) 650-3520.

Western’s Huxley College of the Environment is one of the oldest environmental colleges in the nation and a recognized national leader in producing the next generation of environmental stewards. The College’s academic programs reflect a broad view of the physical, biological, social and cultural world.  This innovative and interdisciplinary approach makes Huxley unique. The College has earned international recognition for the quality of its programs.