Goldsborough Dam

Goldsborough Dam was built in 1921 on Goldsborough Creek near the town of Shelton, Washington. The dam is approximately 100 feet long and 14 feet high, constructed of a combination of wood and concrete. It once supplied electricity for Shelton, then diverted water to a paper mill owned by the Simpson Timber Company. Simpson owns the dam and much of the land around it.

Goldsborough Creek drains 80 square miles of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, with most of the watershed consisting of second growth forest land.

Goldsborough Dam was built with little regard for anadromous (ocean-migrating) fish. It has cut off 14 miles of freshwater habitat that once supported healthy runs of chinook, coho and chum salmon, as well as steelhead and cutthroat trout. A fish ladder was once built, but the spillway has gradually eroded the streambed, creating an impassable barrier for migrating fish. Coho, steelhead, and cutthroat trout are still present in the creek below the dam.

In 1996 a "100-year flood" inundated Goldsborough Creek, washing out parts of the dam and leaving it useless. Simpson, the dam owner, decided removal was the preferred way to deal with the obsolete dam.

The company entered into negotiations with state and federal authorities, and in August 2000 all parties reached an agreement to remove the dam and restore 2,000 feet of streambed. The company will pay $1.1 million, and will turn over most of the water rights to an environmental trust. Federal and state money will also help fund the project, with an estimated total project cost of $4.8 million.

Dam removal and river restoration activities on Goldsborough Creek are expected to take several months during Spring and Summer 2001.

Numerous other dams in the Pacific Northwest have already been removed, including Rat Lake Dam on Whitestone Creek (Washington), Marie Dorian Dam on the Walla Walla River (Oregon), and Lewiston Dam on the Clearwater River (Idaho).

In addition, several other dams in the region are slated for removal in the future to help restore depleted salmon runs, including Elwha and Glines Canyon dams on the Elwha River (Washington), Condit Dam on the White Salmon River (Washington) and Savage Rapids Dam on the Rogue River (Oregon).