Years ago, before the world was woke to beavers, when Martinez was acting like a tyrant about hosting a handful of the villains in Alhambra Creek, I used to look wistfully north and see Washington state and all its good works and view it as a kind of Nirvana where beavers were treated like water deities. And I would be SO JEALOUS. And think, SOMEDAY. That could happen here. Maybe SOMEDAY.
And with all that wishing and dreaming I never stopped to think that the reverse was also true. By which I mean that the entire genuine Martinez-stupidity disease could spread North.
A dispute is unfolding along Clover Creek in Pierce County, Washington. Residents say county-owned parcels thick with vegetation and beaver dams are flooding private property, turning well water brown, and drying up parts of the creek.
Property owner Bob Trapp told KIRO 7 that his Tacoma property along Clover Creek once included grassy acreage where his dogs could roam. The land now floods for part of the year, Trapp said, then dries into cracked ground in the summer.
“This whole thing is covered with water,” he said.
Trapp said the flooding has also turned the water in his shallow well brown.
“We have to boil our water, because we don’t know; it stinks like
swamp,” he said.
Well now. That doesn’t sound like Washington does it? That sounds like Contra Costa stupid. Maybe worse. I am just fascinated to see how the smarty pants state handles this ignorance. Wait, get me some popcorn,
“This whole thing is covered with water,” he said.
Trapp said the flooding has also turned the water in his shallow well brown
Smith said the county is continuing to monitor the area and actively managing it to support public benefit, protect natural resources, and address local flooding concerns.
Residents and restoration advocates, meanwhile, say degraded parts of the creek need more direct cleanup, especially where they believe invasive growth and obstructions are worsening conditions.
As Grams put it, “It’s an uphill battle.”
including on county-owned property between 20th Avenue East and 25th Avenue East.On the far side of those same county parcels, resident Randy Grams said he is dealing with a different result: too little water in the creek bed near his home.
“A lot of the trees are drying out and dying,” he said.
Once a year we have the local chimney sweep in to clean the stove pipe. And every year he complains about flooding in Martinez. He says he lives two miles away on the creek and his yard floods every year almost to his door.
Because of the beavers. He explains.
Sometimes I try explaining that we haven’t had beavers living in the creek for a decade. Ot doesn’t make a whit of difference. He says the same thing the next year. Sometimes I just let him do his shuffing and hozing. Because what I say really doesn’t matter. His mind is made up.
Maybe he has a brother in Washington.
On the far side of those same county parcels, resident Randy Grams said he is dealing with a different result: too little water in the creek bed near his home.
“A lot of the trees are drying out and dying,” he said.
Grams, a member of the Clover Creek Restoration Alliance, said volunteers have been trying to get into areas they consider blocked, overgrown or otherwise degraded so they can help clean them up.
“It’s an uphill battle,” he said. “We’ve tried to get access to some of the properties to go in and clean them up where the creek is degraded and overgrown and has invasive species growing, and they don’t want
County officials say residents are oversimplifying the situation.
Amanda Smith, a public information specialist with Pierce County’s Planning & Public Works Department, said the county has confirmed beaver dams on its land but believes there may also be additional dams on private property both upstream and downstream.
“This reach of Clover Creek is very flat, and both high surface water and high groundwater levels are common,” she wrote in an email. “The area is designated as a regulated floodplain and a wetland. Elevated water levels can result from multiple factors and are not solely attributable to beaver activity.”
“These county-owned properties are allowed to function in a natural state to provide water quality and ecological benefits to the stream,” Smith wrote, adding that shrubs and tall grass help keep water clean and that downed trees can help reduce downstream flooding.
See what I mean about Washington? So well-meaning. Flood plains and ecological benefits. They might as well be speaking Armenian. These words are not the words that comfort anxious residents.
County officials say residents are oversimplifying the situation.
Amanda Smith, a public information specialist with Pierce County’s Planning & Public Works Department, said the county has confirmed beaver dams on its land but believes there may also be additional dams on private property both upstream and downstream.
“This reach of Clover Creek is very flat, and both high surface water and high groundwater levels are common,” she wrote in an email. “The area is designated as a regulated floodplain and a wetland. Elevated water levels can result from multiple factors and are not solely attributable to beaver activity.”
“These county-owned properties are allowed to function in a natural state to provide water quality and ecological benefits to the stream,” Smith wrote, adding that shrubs and tall grass help keep water clean and that downed trees can help reduce downstream flooding.
Smith said the county is continuing to monitor the area and actively managing it to support public benefit, protect natural resources, and address local flooding concerns.
Residents and restoration advocates, meanwhile, say degraded parts of the creek need more direct cleanup, especially where they believe invasive growth and obstructions are worsening conditions.
As Grams put it, “It’s an uphill battle.”
I’m thinking you need a couple neighborhood barbecues where the city buys the beer and the steaks and there are plenty of smart folks on hand to talk sense about beavers. Have a chat with our friends at Cows and Fish, maybe. Sometimes it takes a real neighborly approach to welcome new neighbors.
Invite my chimney sweep, will you?
One of the pathogens she has examined is the tularemia bacterium. It can be transmitted to humans via mosquitoes, which are often abundant in stagnant water and ponds. Whilst working on her thesis, Lovisa Hökby collected water samples from both beaver dams and other wetlands in Sweden. The water samples, along with tissue and faeces from beavers, were then tested for a total of 21 different infectious agents, known as pathogens. These included the bacterium that can cause tularemia.
