More photos of the repaired BDA instream stuctures on Lost River, tributary of the Mattole river. They held up well to extremely high flows last winter. These are permeable dams that mimic beaver dams. This is a Sanctuary Forest Project within the Mattole Watershed, to enhance summer stream flows in the Mattole river, and salmonid habitat enhancement
#BeaverDamAnalog
#WatershedRestoration
#StreamFlowEnhancement
#InstreamStructures
#Salmonids

Out in the field yesterday doing groundwater monitoring around experimental groundwater recharge ponds in the mattole watershed northern CA. Mind blowing to see how much the ca native sedge and juncus re-veg plugs grew over the rainy winter deluge. They were on planted a few years ago. The repairs to the BDA's "beaver analog dams" held up amazingly well. Deep clear pools holding and evolving on lost river, tributary to the mattole river. Creating and improving salmonid habitat, and allowing summer recharge of mainstem flows. Looking good!
#WatershedRestoration
#CaNativePlants
#salmononids
#BeaverAnalogDams
#RoughSkinnedNewt

Last summer I was asked if i had any ideas on how to improve analog beaver dams built as a stream enhancement project. Analog dams are human built, these weren't functioning as well as they could and blowing out. (We implemented some beaver like improvements to the dams which are holding up better) I got kind of addicted to watching youtubes of beavers building dams.
This rescued baby beaver knows exactly what to do.
#beavers #BeaverDams #WatershedRestoration #InstreamStructures #BeaverDamAnalogs #bdas

https://youtu.be/gdwDeJpweiU

Arrrgh for some reason half the photos I took at the restoration site today, have vanished off the phone. This project is an experimental stream recharge pond facilitated by Sanctuary Forest, in one of the tributaries to the upper Mattole River in northern CA. The pond is adjacent to the creek, and the goal is for the pond to slowly discharge water into the creek during low flows in summer. Its a tricky balance to create a pond that leaks slowly. This pond was not holding water well, losing water too fast, so bentonite was added for a better seal. However if a pond is sealed too well, it won't discharge.
We seeded the site with two native CA grass species, CA #Brome and #Deschampsia (#tufted hair grass). Both species are suited to woodland sites. We also mulched the area with rice straw. Those fotos vanished from my phone. Im bummed that the Beaver Dam Analog, #BDA photos, in the creek adjacent to the pond vanished. BDA's are human made instream dams that mimic a beaver dam. They are functioning well, after repairing them in the summer using huckleberry for branch packing.
#WatershedRestoration
#CaNativeBunchGrass
#deschampsia #CaBrome
#BeaverDamAnalog
#BDA
#bioengineering
#branchpacking