In 2018, the American Rivers Conservancy (ARC) contacted the WATER Institute at Occidental Arts and Ecology Center about helping with a particular beaver issue in the Creekside Greens neighborhood of the El Dorado Hills. Beaver had been building a dam in the creek and it was starting to flood a popular greenbelt walking path. They wanted to know if there was a non-lethal alternative to kill trapping.
The community of El Dorado Hills, California has been grappling with beaver issues for many years now and often resorts to killing the beaver. This has proven to be a temporary fix and has stirred up some controversy as not all neighbors approve of this strategy.
The ARC was interested in addressing the flooding while keeping the beaver in place as the pond was providing habitat for a wide array of birds, amphibians, reptiles, mammals and other native Sierra foothill species. This got the attention of the US Fish and Wildlife Service who offered to foot the bill if the responsible landowner (in this case the El Dorado Hills Community Services District) would agree to give permission for the installation. The Community Services District gave the project the green light and the device was successfully installed.
Damion Ciotti of US Fish and Wildlife Service with Kevin Swift creating a small, temporary space in the dam to insert the Pond Leveler pipe.
WATER Institute staff invited long-time partner and beaver and process-based restoration specialist, Kevin Swift to get involved. It turns out that this site was a good candidate for installing a Pond Leveler device. This is simply a large pipe run through the dam to lower the height of the pond. The upstream portion of the pipe is caged to prevent beaver from blocking the water flow. This device provides a win-win solution that mitigates flooding in human communities while providing habitat for beaver and other wildlife.
Above, WATER Institute Director Kate Lundquist and Kevin Swift of Swift Water Design lay pipe for the Pond Leveler device.