Solving Beaver Flooding Problems through the Use of Water Flow Control Devices

Once extirpated from large parts of this country, the beaver has made a surprising comeback. However, the beaver’s return to its former range is accompanied by a rising number of complaints caused by beaver-created impoundments. Highway departments, homeowners, and government officials find themselves confronting costly damage to septic systems, road infrastructures, and property as a result of the beaver’s engineering ingenuity. The traditional response has been to trap and remove beavers, yet this solution is often short-term due to the continual immigration of beavers from the surrounding habitat. In addition, public attitude surveys reflect a growing desire for more humane solutions and rank animal suffering as a major determinant of which wildlife management practices are considered acceptable. To meet this growing need, two entities, The Humane Society of the United States and Beaver Solutions, Inc., established their own respective programs to help communities and homeowners resolve beaver problems through the use of water flow control devices (WFCDs), which present a relatively new, little known yet innovative concept. WFCDs are designed to control the water level, thereby preventing flooding, while allowing the beavers to remain in their habitat. This paper describes the social and ecological context for current beaver problems, how WFCDs function, gives installation and maintenance tips, and presents results of two surveys that assessed the effectiveness of WFCDs in alleviating beaver flooding problems in Connecticut and Massachusetts