The WATER Institute is featured in a new Knee Deep Times article called “Tools Tweak Beaver Dams.” The article features examples of coexistence installations, beaver-based climate solutions, and new resources like the California Beaver Help Desk that make living alongside beaver accessible and affordable.
From the article: “A growing body of evidence has found that beavers were once abundant throughout California, and bringing them back will foster climate resilience. They build ponds where salmon can weather dry summers and create wet meadows that serve as firebreaks. One study calculated that repopulating the Sierra Nevada with beavers would create enough dams to store 32 billion gallons of water, making an area three-quarters as large as Yosemite wet enough to resist wildfires.”
The WATER Institute’s Grey Hayes, PhD., was quoted saying “Our hypothesis is that all of the river systems in California and the adjoining floodplains were shaped by beavers,” Hayes says, mentioning the freshwater marshes of Elkhorn Slough and the wet meadows of the Sierra Nevada as possible relics of past beaver activity.
As the beaver restoration and coexistence continues to gain ground in California, we’re proud to be part of the movement alongside many other beaver believers.
