MADRAS, OR -- Crews will soon install artificial beaver dams in a Jefferson County waterway, in an effort to remove pollutants. Ally Steinmetz, with the Middle Deschutes Watershed Council, says a new grant will pay for “Beaver Dam Analogues” - or BDAs - in Campbell Creek. "It’s basically a way to filter agricultural runoff coming off of Agency Plains, which is a heavy agricultural use area," Steinmetz tells KBND News, "And our monitoring has found high levels of pesticides in this creek, so these BDAs will act as natural water filters."

The BDAs are created using organic material to mimic the water purfying work beavers have been doing for thousands of years, "We use a hydraulic post pounder to install untreated posts into the creekbed laterally across the creek. And then we’ll weave natural materials like willow sticks or juniper branches through the posts, so it forms this sort of tight webbing that will, over time, fill with sediment and leaves."

It's one of two projects to be funded through a $587,919 grant from Oregon's Watershed Enhancement Board awarded to the Jefferson County Soil and Watershed Conservation District. "We’ve been monitoring the creek; been doing water quality monitoring for about six years," says Steinmetz, "So we have a really good baseline to see what the watershed is telling us about pesticide use over time. And then hopefully be able to track the effectiveness of beaver dams in removing pollutants."

The grant will also fund juniper removal in the Trout Creek area. Projects are expected to begin early next year, when streamflows are low and the risk of fire from the use of heavy machinery is reduced. 

Photo: BDA in Bridge Creek, courtesy USFS