Contractors begin taking out Nelson Dam on the Naches River

YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — The city of Yakima will begin taking out the Nelson Dam on Monday, following nearly three months of preparation and years of planning. City of Yakima Water and Irrigation Manager David Brown said the $18.1 million project on the Naches River has seen only a few delays. Contractors expect to complete the project by April 2023. Once the dam is removed and replaced with a roughened channel, boaters and all species of fish should be able to move freely along the river for the first time in decades. The dam was built in the 1920s to divert irrigation water for Yakima and the Naches-Cowiche Irrigation Association.