In 2015, the WATER Institute partnered with Caltrans District 5 and Swift Water Design to bring beaver coexistence to a new freeway project in Monterey County.
A beaver dammed a drainage, which was beginning to flood the adjacent roadbed of a new freeway. Caltrans’s options were to do nothing, to depredate the beaver, or to try a coexistence device called a pond leveler.
After hearing a presentation on beaver ecology, history, and non-lethal management options by The WATER Institute and Swift Water Design, Caltrans staff decided to submit a proposal to contract Swift Water Design to install the pond leveler device.
Through the hard work of Caltrans Environmental, Landscape, Construction, and Maintenance staff, this proposal was approved, and the Department implemented an innovative solution to their flooding problem.
The decision to leave this beaver pond intact was significant, as it provides one of the few perennial sources of fresh water for wildlife in this area, which is otherwise dominated by roads, housing, and agriculture. Since the beaver arrived, federally listed Threatened California red-legged frog, federal/state Threatened California tiger salamander, Western pond turtle, waterfowl, and many other species have been observed utilizing this lush habitat.
