• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer

Scott River Watershed Council

We promote and support education, restoration, and scientific planning and monitoring in order to ensure the sustainability of the natural and human communities of the watershed, now and for future generations.

  • Home
  • About Us
    • Our Team – Board of Director & Staff
    • Support Us
    • Contact
  • Projects
    • Community Connection
    • Education & Research
    • Forest Health and Fire
    • Instream Implementation
    • Mountain Meadows
    • Planning and Design
    • Soil Health, Land and Water Use Support
  • Reports

Beaver Dam Analogs

“Beaver dam analogues (BDAs) are channel-spanning structures that mimic or reinforce natural
beaver dams. As such, they are semi-porous to water, sediment, fish and other
water-borne materials. Like natural beaver dams, BDAs are biodegradable, temporary features
on the landscape with functions that change in response to the effects of flowing water,
sediment, and beaver activity. Also like natural beaver dams, BDAs function
best when constructed in sequence, such that the structures work in concert with each other.
Beaver dam analogues are constructed with material that is similar to what beaver use to build
their dams. Depending on what type of BDA is constructed, this may includes sediment
ranging in size from cobbles, gravel, sand, silt and clay, vegetation such as the stalks of
emergent vegetation, the branches and stems of decidous (sic) trees and shrubs (usually willow or
cottonwood) and wood posts made from the boles of conifers. A complete
construction sequence for a BDA would be to first install a line of posts using a hydraulic or
pneumatic post pounder (Figure 25), followed by weaving branches in between the posts. An
upstream face is then constructed first using cobble and other large material placed at the
upstream base to prevent underscour, followed by successive layers of vegetation and finergrained material until the structure has achieved the desired level of flow permeability and
upstream pool depth.” – 2015 Beaver Restoration Guidebook (Chapter 6: Beaver Dam Analogues) Michael M. Pollock, Nick Weber and Greg Lewallen

By the implementation of BDAs, we will directly address stressors related to climate change and those identified for the Scott River in the SONCC Coho Salmon Recovery Plan (NMFS, 2014); “altered hydrologic function” and “degraded riparian forests”. We are working in a system that has been altered by human actions such as logging, mining, channelization and water extraction. The BDAs will increase sediment retention, raise water tables, and improve resilience of the aquatic system over time helping to remediate the past degradation.  Through process-based restoration we hope to reverse channel incision; creating areas of healthily functioning streams to provide their richly diverse and resilient suite of habitat and ecosystem functions.

When using beaver mimicry, in our case BDAs, adaptive management and methodologies are essential to long term success.  Process based restoration requires interventions to be dynamic and responsive to changes in a system as the intervention takes effect.  To do so effectively, a systematic approach to evaluating, and responding to project impacts must take place. Similarly, for climate resilience, restoration cannot be static, but must continue to be adapted to changing climatic conditions.  Process-based restoration requires a paradigm shift from “implementing a project” (the current theoretical framework for funding and permitting of restoration projects) to “watershed care”, which is a long-term commitment to care for a specific landscape. Creating this cultural change requires data and engagement with agency personnel, grant funders, and the wider restoration community. 

Sugar Creek BDA’s

French Creek BDA’s

Miners Creek BDA’s

Rattlesnake Creek BDA’s

Biodiversity in BDA sites

Sidebar

 

514 N Hwy. 3
Etna CA 96027

QUICK LINKS

  • About Us
  • Our Team – Board of Director & Staff
  • Reports
  • Help Support Our Efforts
  • Contact Us
  • SRWC PROJECTS

SEARCH

Learn About Our Projects

Community Connection

Learn MoreCommunity Connection

Education & Research

Learn MoreEducation & Research

Fisheries & Water Monitoring

Learn MoreFisheries & Water Monitoring

Forest Health and Fire

Learn MoreForest Health and Fire

Instream Implementation

Learn MoreInstream Implementation

Mountain Meadows

Learn MoreMountain Meadows

Planning and Design

Learn MorePlanning and Design

Soil Health, Land and Water Use Support

Learn MoreSoil Health, Land and Water Use Support

News

Learn MoreNews

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates.

We use MailChimp to securely collect your email and to send our newsletter.

Sign Up For The Scott River Newsletter

* indicates required


514 N. Hwy. 3, P.O. Box 355, Etna CA 96027

Originally established in 1992, Scott River Watershed Council became a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization in 2011.

Donations can be given via our Secure Donation Page

Support Us
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Our Team
  • Projects
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact

Copyright © 2025 · Official Website for Scott River Watershed Council • Website by Luci’s Office, Inc.

Follow Us On Facebook and Instagram!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram