KENT – Northwest Corner land managers are once again turning to a device known as a “beaver deceiver” to prevent flooding around North Spectacle Pond while allowing the area’s beavers to remain in place.
The Inland Wetlands Commission approved the project on an emergency basis after hearing concerns that persistent beaver dam-building could cause water to back up and flood nearby homes and a private driveway.
During a meeting with the IWC on May 18, Maria Grace, director of stewardship at the Northwest Connecticut Land Conservancy, said that flooding damage had impacted properties around the pond before, and recent beaver activity had put the driveway particularly at risk.
The “beaver deceiver” – also known as a pond leveler or beaver baffler – allows water to flow through a beaver dam so that the beavers can remain in their habitat without impacting nearby properties. It’s a method of addressing conflicts between beavers and property owners that doesn’t involve trapping the animals, which in Connecticut often results in their deaths.
“This is truly the most humane and ecological way to coexist with beavers,” Grace said.
Grace presented the application on behalf of a partnership between the NCLC, Kent Land Trust and the North Spectacle Pond Association, as the land where the device will be placed is owned by both the NCLC and the KLT with the North Spectacle Pond Association representing the residents’ interests. She explained that a complex wetland system downstream of the pond, bisected by a driveway off of Segar Mountain Road, has long been a hotspot for beaver activity.
In 2014, a pond leveler was installed by Massachusetts-based Beaver Solutions on the west side of the driveway to address the flooding concerns. The system has been successful, Grace said, but beavers have since realized that if they dam the channels on the other side of the driveway, which are connected by a series of culverts, the water will back up anyway.
“They’ve essentially learned that the systems are connected and that they can build dams on the east side of the driveway and create a better habitat for themselves,” Grace said. “They’re really smart creatures.”
She explained that beavers have repeatedly dammed the outlet stream from North Spectacle Pond, causing water levels to rise. The resulting flooding has threatened a vulnerable driveway leading to a private residence and has already damaged properties around the pond.
“It’s fascinating to watch and to see it out there but we have to do something about it because the pond can’t get above a certain level, or people’s houses will flood,” she said.
The proposal calls for Beaver Solutions to install a similar system on the east side. The pond leveler essentially pushes a low-profile pipe through the dam with fencing that prevents the beavers from plugging it back up, as they are instinctually motivated to do. The pipe regulates flow through the dam while keeping it largely intact, and ensuring that water level remains suitable for beavers and humans alike.
Beaver Solutions’ John Egan said that pond levelers are more effective than trapping in the long term. While they don’t work for every location, such as fast flowing rivers, Egan said they work well in wetland systems like North Spectacle Pond.
“Just because you remove the animals from that habitat one year, it doesn’t mean new animals won’t move in the next,” he said.
Commissioners ultimately approved the project on an emergency basis, allowing them to act without waiting a full meeting cycle.
“It’s been shown to us that it has worked since 2014,” said IWC member Paul Yagid of the pond leveler solution. “By acting on it sooner we may prevent what could be an emergency.”
Other commissioners agreed that heavy spring rains combined with continued dam-building could quickly create flooding problems.
“If the water gets elevated,” Grace said, “people on North Spectacle Pond will have a real mess to deal with.”
Commissioner Marge Smith agreed. “We know how fast beavers work when they put their canny little minds to it,” she said.
