Now that’s a complaint I’ve not heard before. “The Beaver Deceiver works too well!” Apparently this communicty was worried about the road being flooded from the beaver dam. So a leveler was installed and the road stopped flooding.
But now the pond is too low!
Woodstockers worry about water level at Yankeetown
Is Yankeetown Pond, cherished by generations, being drained to nothing but mud flats, leading to an irreversible ecological disaster?
It depends on whom you ask.
The beaver deceiver
On August 13, the Beaver Institute, hired by Moran, installed the beaver deceiver after years of the pond flooding onto Pond Road. The town had previously attempted to remove part of a beaver dam to let water flow, but the beavers would plug the holes.
The beaver deceiver consists of a pipe directing water from the middle of the pond, up and over the top of the beaver dam. A large cage at the pond end keeps the beavers from trying to plug it. The device is designed to channel a steady amount of water out of the pond to keep it from flooding. The beavers do not hear or feel rushing water, so they don’t attempt to fortify the dam.
The height of the pipe, which determines the flow of water, is set at what is determined to be the desired level. It was supposed to lower the pond by twelve to 15 inches, but neighbors, showing an increasing shoreline in posted photos, say Yankeetown is being drained to mud flats.
Mudflats I tell you! It kind of makes me smile to imagine the Martinez tycoon who hated the beavers and was terrified they would flood his properties suddenly complaining that after Skip Lisle came the pond was TOO LOW!!!
Reached for comment, the DEC said it found no issue with the leveler, for which it issued a permit on April 3. “DEC Region 3 staff performed a compliance check on August 28, 2024, and confirmed that the pond leveling device was installed in a manner consistent with the permit,” a DEC spokesperson said.
The DEP initially referred the matter back to the DEC, but added that they also found no issue. “I wanted to assure you that we continuously monitor water quality at the Ashokan Reservoir all day, every day. In addition, we’ve assessed the City property at Yankeetown Pond and found no issues that could impact the City’s water-supply system,” said Heidi Haynes, deputy director of outreach for the DEP’s Bureau of Water Supply.
DEC made a second compliance check October 8 of the water leveler installed at Yankeetown Pond in Woodstock and confirmed that no unpermitted activities had occurred at the beaver dam to alter the water levels. A spokesperson added that the water level was remaining consistent with the permits it had issued.
Nothing to see here folks, move along.
You do realize the whatever stream is feeding the pond is probably lower at the end of summer right? I mean the leveler is not a “sucker”. It doesn’t keep taking water out of your pond even when it reaches equilibrium right?
Some have cited a yet-to-be released study by the nonprofit Hudsonia Institute, whose mission is to protect the natural heritage of the greater Hudson Valley.
“I suggest that the leveler be adjusted as soon as possible so that the pond water level is no more than six inches below the normal springtime high-water level, and that the water is at least high enough that there is some water covering the currently exposed water-lily beds,” Erik Kiviat of Hudsonia wrote.
This passage is oft-quoted by Sylvia Bullett, someone who would like the beaver deceiver pipes capped.
