Recently, there has been a surge in the stream restoration practice to incorporate and reintroduce beaver, or simulate beaver dams with beaver dam analogs (BDAs) in degraded stream systems to accomplish stream, wetland, and floodplain restoration.
Beavers and their dams significantly alter the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of rivers systems and provide many ecosystem benefits including: higher water tables, reconnected and expanded floodplains, higher summer base flows, improved water quality, and greater habitat complexity.
BDAs are channel-spanning structures that are semi-porous to water, sediment, and fish. They are biodegradable, temporary features on the landscape that simulate the ecosystem benefits of active beaver dams, but can be implemented in locations where habitat may not be suitable for sustaining an active beaver population.
In eastern Washington, there is a major effort underway to use BDAs to re-stabilize rivers, reduce sediment and phosphorous loads in rivers, and enhance ecosystem benefits. The Lands Council (TLC) has partnered with Gonzaga University to implement and monitor the effectiveness of a series of BDA projects:
- California Creek (2016-2020)
- Rattler Run Creek (Phase I 2018, Phase II 2021)
- Spangle Creek (2022)
- Thompson Creek (Phase I 2020-2021, preliminary Phase II 2023)
The overall goal of these BDA projects has been to monitor and determine if BDAs can be an effective means by which to reduce sediment and phosphorous loads that have severely impacted downstream receiving waters.
