Fryer Creek is an engineered flood control channel owned by Sonoma Water. Sonoma Water has taken extensive effort to restore the riparian trees along many of its urban channels. The use of Fryer Creek by beaver, who eat willow and cottonwood trees, is an indication of the improved habitat conditions along the creek. Thanks to beaver dams, what was usually a dried-up creek bed for most of the year is now a haven for aquatic animals and birds
However, when the beaver first moved into the East Fork of the creek within the Sonoma city limits, there was concern about increased flooding of the adjacent trail that could potentially block passage for trail users, and importantly, emergency vehicles. This is when the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center (OAEC) WATER Institute got involved to help facilitate a solution. OAEC monitored the beaver dams while consulting with Sonoma Water on options to allow beaver to remain in the creek while reducing the risk of flooding.
With the help of Swift Water Design, the first of several Pond Leveler devices was installed on April 27th, 2020. The team worked diligently to protect the resident beaver while installing this device, which will now reduce flooding on Sonoma Water’s access road. It took a full day to carefully lower the pond level, and beaver activity was detected that very night. They decided to only drop the water level no more than 12” to let the beaver adjust and allow the overall system to find its new equilibrium. The team returned later to evaluate if this was minimally sufficient to gain access to the roadbed again and it was.
Measuring pond depth in preparation for installation of a Pond Leveler device.
Since this initial installation, several more Pond Leveler devices have been installed and are being maintained by Sonoma Water. For more information on how a Pond Leveler device works, visit the Beaver Institute’s page about dam flooding.
Thanks to agencies such as Sonoma Water this win-win project, balances support for beaver while reducing flooding on the trail and maintaining critical access to key floodway and emergency management infrastructure. As part of this successful non-lethal management solution, OAEC WATER Institute will remain involved with this and other projects to help the agency coexist with beaver. They were also hired to give input on Sonoma Water’s Working with Beavers on Sonoma Water Channels and their Fryer Creek Beaver Impact Analysis and Alternatives Development reports.
Read more about this collaboration in an article in the Sonoma Index-Tribune.