Blast to breach Condit Dam on the White Slamon River

VANCOUVER, Wash. — Crews are setting dynamite to blast a hole Wednesday in the Condit Dam on the White Salmon River about 65 miles east of Vancouver.

The Columbian reports the blast is expected to release a huge surge of water that will carry sediment from its reservoir three miles downstream to the Columbia River.

The Portland-based utility PacifCorp is removing its 99-year-old hydroelectric dam to restore salmon and steelhead habitat.

The removal of the 125-foot tall Condit Dam follows work to remove two remove two other dams in Washington — the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams on the Olympic Peninsula’s Elwha River.

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