Solutions to beaver problems

Now that we've presented information about beavers, their ecology, and some problems associated with them, we hope to present some solutions. As mentioned, beavers alone are not problematic; it is the way beavers impact human environments that brings out the need to "do something" about the beavers.

If a beaver is making a dam on your property and the water is causing property damage or safety issues, you might have a few options:

• You could possibly get a permit to remove the dam. But ask yourself: will the beaver just build another?
• You may consider hiring a trapper. But ask yourself: will another beaver just move in and take its place?
• You may install a water level-control device. The idea behind these contraptions is to allow the beaver to stay on location while water continues to flow downstream.

Note that most of your options require a permit from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. WDFW has a web page describing Hydraulic Project Approvals, which are required under the "Hydraulic Code" (Chapter 77.55 RCW) passed in 1949. In brief, anyone wishing to conduct any construction activity that will use, divert, obstruct, or change the bed or flow of state waters must obtain a permit (called the Hydraulic Project Approval, an HPA).

All this talk about beavers, but what about the fish? We will present more infomation below about how salmon and beavers co-exist. In this section, all solutions that allow fish to pass upstream and downstream are noted with this symbol , which indicates "fish-friendly."

The rest of this section includes links to various types of hyraulic solutions to beaver flooding.

• King County Beaver Deceiver Information. This is a King County website that takes you through the process of installing a "beaver deceivers" at one of the County's ponds.
• The Flexible Leveler. A description of one type of hydraulic solution that is inexpensive and has worked well in Snohomish County.
• Beaver Stop^®. Beaver Stop^® is a patented device that prevents the obstruction of the culvert inlet and allows water to flow freely through the pipe.
• The Use of Water Flow Devices in Addressing Flooding Problems Caused by Beaver in Massachusetts (Acrobat PDF format). Compiled by Susan Langlois and Thomas Decker, Mass. Department of Fisheries & Wildlife.
• The Clemson Beaver Pond Leveler (Acrobat PDF format). Developed at Clemson Univeristy with two goals: the need to suppress the problem of flooding agricultural and timber lands and to maintain or improve some of the benefits derived from beaver ponds.
• Managing Nuisance Beavers Along Roadsides; a Guide for Highway Departments (Acrobat PDF format). This publication is by Cornell University's Department of Natural Resources and the Division of Fish, Wildlife, and Marine Resources, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.