ELWHA RIVER, Clallam County — From all over the country they came to ponder this river: its gravel, its teal-green waters, its shores and mouth and mostly its future as the site of the largest dam-removal project ever in North America.

Sweeping north from Mount Olympus to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Elwha has been collared by two dams since the early part of the 20th century. Both will be taken out chunk by chunk, releasing some 18 million cubic yards of sediment impounded along with the river's flow. The process will take about three years, beginning next June.

This week, scientists from agencies, universities and consulting firms gathered for a two-day research foray along the Elwha River, to consider what can be learned when the dams come down. For this dream team of specialists — engineers, fisheries scientists, biologists, geomorphologists and a botanist — the dam removal on the Elwha is a science Olympics of sorts, a chance to watch natural processes in play as the river and its surroundings undergo ecological changes on a scale not seen before.

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