If you’ve never visited Cuyamaca State Park in the mountains of eastern San Diego County you are missing a great experience: Incredible mountain scenery and, of course, beautiful Lake Cuyamaca. But did you know that at several locations along the highway that bends and winds up the mountain between Interstate 8 and Lake Cuyamaca there is a river? Probably not. Why? Answer: Because for much of the summer, the river, the Sweetwater River, is almost dry or completely dry.
Now, imagine what the Sweetwater River could look like if the state put some beavers into it:
Maybe this:
So should the state just plop a few beavers into the Sweetwater and expect them to thrive? No. In the current condition of the Sweetwater, the beavers would be easy pickins for coyotes, bobcats, and mountain lions. Beavers need water with some depth to it for protection. So what could be done? BDA’s! What the hell is a BDA? A BDA is a “beaver dam analog”.
Let’s ask the state of California to create BDA’s in the Sweetwater River in Cuyamaca State Park. The BDA’s will create ponds which will hold back massive quantities of water in the upper watershed of the river. This will create year-round water flow. Then, once there is year round water flow, let’s reintroduce nature’s engineers: Beavers! The park will flourish! The other animals in the park will flourish!
Beavers were once in the Sweetwater River several hundred years ago. Let’s bring them back!
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End of post.
Beavers in San Diego County 