The beneficial role of beaver dams in restoring rivers
In the deserts of north America something incredible is happening, these arid lands are turning into lush green wetlands and its all because of a very secretive creature who only comes out at night and the results are surprising everyone! Determined, relentless and even stubborn are words commonly used to describe one natures hardest workers, they work tirelessly through the night, night after night, while most people are asleep… I’m talking about beavers of course 🙂 and despite their controversial and complex relationship with man in the past, there are a growing number in the science world who are coming to the realization that beavers could actually be a friend and not foe, who can help us win the fight to save the environment.
In this video we will show you how beavers have saved desert rivers over the course of 12 years, and the landscapes beavers create that can help to fight wildfires, reduce drought and reverse declining fish numbers we are going to look at two case studies of beavers effects on rivers in two completely different desert regions of north America, one in a northern cold and dry desert zone in Oregon and the other in the hotter and even drier southern desert in Nevada.
Beaver dam analogs (BDAs) for slowing down water flow and sediment
Conservation professionals turned a negative into a positive in the aftermath of the 65,000-acre Sharps wildfire on Baugh Creek in the Little Wood watershed in Central Idaho. A major partnership project led by the Idaho Soil and Water Conservation Commission led to the installation of more than 120 beaver dam-type low-tech structures along Baugh Creek and two other tributaries to help restore the streams in a post-fire environment. The beaver dam analogs and other woody in-stream structures slow down the water flow, increase meanders and store water high in the watershed for the benefit of fish, wildlife and livestock.
The project was made possible by two private landowners in the area that wanted to restore the streams and improve wildlife habitat. Partners included Idaho Fish and Game, Trout Unlimited, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Wood River Land Trust, The Nature Conservancy, Anabranch Solutions, Utah State University, and more.
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BIG HOLE WATERSHED RESTORATION
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That’s where these come in. Beaver dam analogs (BDA’s), are man-made structures that mimic the function of a natural beaver dam. Recently, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department participated in a workshop hosted by The Nature Conservancy at the department’s Amsden Creek Wildlife Habitat Management area near Dayton, that explained the effectiveness of BDA’s, and then a few structures were installed to entice beaver to recolonize a stretch of the creek.
Reports
Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands: Beaver Dam Analog Installation
Beaver dam analogs bring ecosystem benefits in areas where habitat won’t support beavers
Beaver dams without beavers? Artificial logjams are a popular but controversial restoration tool
Rock Dams
How This Woman Turned Arizona’s Desert into a Farmland Oasis – using low-cost rainwater harvesting structures
Southern Arizona is known for its desert climate, with very hot summers and mild winters. This climate has meant the region has been a hub for agricultural growth for thousands of years despite the fact rainfall has always been relatively low. It’s Arizona’s rivers and aquifers that hold groundwater which have supported the state’s now $23 billion agriculture industry. In terms of revenue generated, Arizona’s top five agricultural products are cattle, calves, lettuce, dairy products, cotton, and hay. In total, farmland makes up about 35% of the state of Arizona. Farming in the desert has been a challenge for Arizona’s modern farmers, who grow water-intensive crops like cotton, alfalfa and corn for cows. It’s estimated that these farms use nearly three-quarters of the available water supply to irrigate their crops.
The Colorado River system, which supplies 36 percent of Arizona’s total water use has experienced extensive drought conditions for the past 19 years. This has resulted in Lake Mead dropping to historically low reservoir levels. More than one-third of Arizona’s water flows up the Colorado River to Lake Mead. This year an intensifying drought and declining reservoir levels across the Western United States has prompted the first-ever water supply cuts to Arizona farmers.
Extensive droughts and dwindling water supplies have wreaked havoc on the once prosperous farms that could endure the arid conditions. Arizona has also become one the fastest growing states in the last decade, as result there has been a demand for tree lined neighborhoods, golf courses and lawns, all of which require vast amounts of water. As we keep consuming the ancient groundwater, without it being replenished, water tables drop and rivers start to dry up.
However over the last 30 years Arizona has been turning this around, in this video we will show you how a low cost innovative water retention system is being used in the desert, turning the dry landscape into a fertile carbon sink stretching over 100,000 acres and we will show you how this system is recharging the aquifers, by improving water retention by at least 28% which has helped to increase biodiversity, turning the desert back into a farmland oasis. Thanks to Valer Clark Austin and Josiah Austin restoring the watershed in the Chiricahua Desert in Arizona and Mexico.
Cuenca Los Ojos
https://www.cuencalosojos.org/
Watershed of the Springs
Cuenca Los Ojos, the Watershed of the Springs, is a 121,000-acre (49,000-ha) protected area in the Sky Islands of Sonora, Mexico. Located directly along the United States-Mexico border, CLO stewards the unique desert wetlands, open grasslands, and soaring mountains of the Madrean Archipelago. We are restoring and rewilding these once-degraded ranch lands by repairing waterways and reviving the natural processes of herbivory, predation, pollination, fire, carbon sequestration, and nutrient cycling. Today, CLO is home once again to jaguar, ocelot, black bears, beavers, and a host of other threatened and endangered species.
What We Have Achieved
- Constructed more than 40,000 small rock dams in washes and hillsides, plus an additional 20,000 on partnering lands in the US and Mexico
- Species reintroductions: white-tailed deer, beavers and turkeys
- Provided habitat for more than 90 mammal species, 40 reptiles, 10 amphibians, and 10 fish
- Raised the water table during a ten-year drought
- Protected 121,000 acres (49,000 ha) of land
- Restored 809 hectares of new riparian vegetation
- Restored 3 miles of year-round water flow on RSB/Silver Creek
- Aerated and reseeded 8,000 acres of grasslands with native grasses
- Constructed more than 80 large gabions on both sides of the border
- Constructed more than 1,000 berms to slow erosion and capture water
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IN SPANISH ONLY!
In the heart of the Mexican desert, Daniela Cafaggi and Ganesh Marín, National Geographic explorers, reveal an ecosystem full of life and invite us to share nature in order to protect it.
Epic Nature. A documentary produced by National Geographic Creative Works and presented by Samsung. / En el corazón del desierto mexicano, Daniela Cafaggi y Ganesh Marín, exploradores de la National Geographic, revelan un ecosistema lleno de vida y nos invitan a compartir la naturaleza para poder protegerla. Naturaleza Épica. Un documental producido por National Geographic Creative Works y presentado por Samsung.
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THE MOJAVE DESERT LAND TRUST
Website: www.mdlt.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mojavedesertlandtrust
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MojaveDesertLandTrust
In North America’s driest desert, Palisades Ranch is one of the rare places where the Mojave River flows aboveground, creating a biodiversity hotspot rich with plant life that attracts over 40 special status species. The property acts as a crucial wildlife corridor that allows flora and fauna to migrate and thrive. The Mojave Desert Land Trust acquired the 1,647-acre property in 2018 with plans to make Palisades Ranch a sustainable oasis in the West Mojave through invasive plant management, habitat restoration and restoration of the floodplain and riparian habitats.
