Author: Lory

Photo by Moses Silva

“Hey, have you heard the rumor going around that the beaver lady is coming home today. Can’t wait until she starts posting again. Sure miss  all those great stories about us and all our beaver friends from around the world.”

Happy Valentine’s Day from the Martinez Beavers.

Just wanted to give you an update on the condition of the dams after the rains.  I checked the dam sites yesterday to see what repairs the beavers face in the coming days.

The primary dam looks pretty good and looks like most of the materials didn’t get washed away.

The secondary dam received the most damage and hopefully the beavers will start working on the repairs here first.  When the tide is low, the beavers right now will be dealing with an area, with little water running through, as they go between the primary dam and the secondary dam. This is what it looks like now from the Marina Vista bridge.

Whenever the rains come, we know the dams will just wash out and we wonder why the city was so up tight in regards to flooding.

The beavers will be busy as beavers and probably will get everything back right before the rains come again. Then they will start all over again.

Photos by Lory Bruno

Photo by Ron Bruno

Ever since the beavers appeared in Alhambra Creek in Martinez, we have heard so many say that beavers cause flooding. Well, today an article appeared in the BBC News Magazine Monitor asking the question, “Do beavers prevent flooding?”

After the latest flooding across southern England, there seems to be calls for beavers to be reintroduced. Therefore, there are those that are looking into the benefits of having beavers in their area.

Derek Gow, a farmer and ecologist in Devon, was quoted in the article,

Beavers are “nature’s water manager”, says Derek Gow, a farmer and ecologist in Devon who has created his own wetland enclosure with about 25 of the creatures. Studies suggest that a wetland area can hold up to 40 times as much water when beavers are present, he says. “They reinstall the sponges” to the landscape, he argues. Instead of water cascading down to the river valleys, it is only gradually released.

The article goes on to state that modern land management has exacerbated flood risk by cutting down trees and straightening rivers and also that the lack of beavers is another element that causes flooding.

Louise Ramsay, from the Scottish Wild Beaver Group, told the BBC, that beavers can actually prevent flooding when they build their dams, they complicate and slow down water.

I found this to be a very interesting article and as there are more reintroductions and studies done about the value of beavers preventing flooding, I think the answer to the question, “Do Beaver Prevent Flooding?” will definitely be YES.

If you would like to read more of this article you can go to the following website,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-26122318

Dam Sites. Photos by Cheryl Reynolds

Worth A Dam members have been keeping an eye on the creek to see how the dams are holding up. Right now there is so much water flowing, the dams are covered. These pictures were taken Sunday morning and the forecast is for more rain through out the day.

The beavers have been lucky so far this year with the lack of rain, they haven’t really had to use their building skills, other than making the dams stronger.

After the rains, we will be down to check out how the dams faired and maybe catch some sightings of them in the process of repairing any damage.