Tumalum Creek Stream Restoration and Beaver Relocation
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Project Goals and Objectives
Our goals are to improve stream habitat by building BDAs and PALS to increase the frequency of deep water habitat and overbank flow at low and high flow conditions. We built two large primary BDAs to release beaver into and also built two temporary lodges for cover from predators. The stream bed is dominated by cobble and boulders so we also built the structures to trap fine sediment which is lacking in the creek and banks. The beaver release site is above a stretch of ~ 3 miles that goes dry each year. The long term goal is to establish a sustainable beaver population and promote perennial flows which were historically present. To date we have released 10 beaver and are monitoring the area to assess their success and habitat changes.
Structure Construction Elements
We built 17 BDAs - two were primary dams to release beaver into. 15 BDAs were secondary dams to provide deep water habitat to allow released beaver to move about with some cover and protection from predators. We also built 2 lodges to provide cover for the beaver and encourage them to stay in the release site. The remainder of the structures were PALS both bank attached and channel spanning designed to promote overbank flow, erode banks, trap sediment and generally increase complexity and more cover for the beaver.
Project Photos
Cover Photo