Just got this email from Tim Tucker, City Engineer:
On Monday, September 15th the Engineering and Public Works staff took a quick look along the banks of Alhambra Creek from Main Street to the Intermodal. We observed additional burrowing near Bertola’s Restaurant. We feel is it prudent to have an employee probe the extent of the burrows. To complete the work safely we would lower the water approximately one foot. This would be done by notching the beaver dams. This work would be done in the morning to avoid disturbance to the beavers. We would expect the beavers to repair the notch within a day or two. We plan to do the work on Wednesday.
‘”Avoid disturbance to the beavers?” You mean besides taking lots if their food and their water? So tomorrow the water level drops and the banks will be checked again for holes. Never mind that if the amount of time that staff has spent checking holes were to be used to install fencing like we recommended all along, there wouldn’t BE any holes.
Update:
Linda says she had a conversation with Mark Ross who is hoping the lowering can be delayed until after the council meeting tonight. How full is your wednesday looking? Protective eyes in the morning at the dam, and protective voices at city hall tonight. I expressed concern that the project would lower water level and expose their lodge entrances and place them in harms way. Here’s my recommendation to Tim Tucker…
There is a simple alternative that will allow you access and allow the beavers water both. Treat this project like any other interruption of a water line. Stop the flow above the target area, examine or fix what you need to once the level is changed to your liking, then let the beavers fix the dam and return the flow to normal. Draining the entire creek to do this one small job is the equivalent of turning off the city main line in order to fix a leaky faucet in a single home. I’m sure you have available materials to isolate flow, and doing this would demonstrate recognition for the needs of the beavers and concerns of the community, as well as responsibility for bank concerns. As always, members of worth a dam would be happy to help with labor or materials.
If you have time today, you might just send your own thoughts to the the city engineer and city manager. It might help to clarify their thinking…
Update II
Stopped by the dam on my way home from the coast and happened to run into Julian and a meeting with the City Manger, Tim Tucker, Don Salts, and Bob Cellini. They were talking about their concerns for the creek and what the intended project would be. The area of concern is behind the lodge, and specifically they would like to know how far down the wall extends. I reiterated my concerns, and discussed the possibility of a plumbing camera. Julian advocated for using wire mesh (chain link) over the bank to discourage further digging, and I clarified some of the beaver vagaries for the city manager. (Will there be 16 next year? 32 the year after that?)
I will tell you the most striking finding of the day: staff had not considered the impact of the tides. They were so high that no one would have been able to “drain” off that water. I was asked, “is this because of the secondary dam?” No, I explained.
This is because of the moon.
