By Teresa Seamster, Northern New Mexico Group chair
When beavers are allowed to build dams across the braided streams and channels of New Mexico’s rivers, a transformation of water storage and abundance of vegetation and wildlife rapidly occurs.
Photographs of the Santa Fe River from the 1930s show a wide, meandering river with many side channels — created by beavers — flowing down a rural valley with the little city of Santa Fe in the distance.
Today, the river is severely contained through the city with concrete banks, unable to meander and water the wetlands and lush vegetation that once defined the river corridor and surrounding farmlands. The four dams that impound the water reduce the river to a dusty arroyo many months out of the year, and diversions at Cochití Dam prevent the river from flowing into the Rio Grande.
However, in the stretches of river between the dams, in areas where there are public lands bordering the river, as in La Cieneguilla, beavers have returned to restore some of the river’s natural functions.
When beavers hear running water, their instinct is to place a check dam and reduce the water until a pond forms. As aquatic animals that depend on bark for food, and with many predators ready to pounce when this ungainly animal comes on land to cut trees, the beaver prefers the water level to reach as close to its food source as possible.
Creating beaver ponds and connecting them with water channels helps the beaver stay safely in the water and creates perfect wetlands next to the river. These wetlands attract ducks, large mammals and multiple bird and amphibian species along with rich low vegetation that allows sunlight to break down contaminants and bacteria in the water and put down roots to filter the sediments. The wetlands act as flood control during the monsoon and spring runoff seasons, absorbing the high flows and preventing erosion and silting up of the river. The resulting rich soil and sparkling water are the natural products the beaver wetlands provide.
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