Our biggest teachers in the work of water cycle restoration are ultimately are the beavers. These images below are true beaver dams, found in the west hills of Portland, Oregon. Their efforts have always enhanced the infiltration, filtration, and general expansion of wet earth. They are the creators of springs, and the managers of flood, drought, and fire. We aspire to mimic their work, giving more land back to water, and allowing it to do its best magic.
Below are our beaver dam analogue structures in a seasonal creek. In the following wet season, these structures slowed the flow of the water through this landscape, which had begun to erode more and more each year. Sediment was accumnulated up slope of the structures, further enhancing their function.