Beaver built dam reduces village flood risk

A 70 metre wide dam that was built by a family of beavers has reduced the risk of flooding to the nearby village of Sinnington.

The dam is situated across Sutherland Beck in Cropton Forest and is thought to be the largest beaver dam in the UK.

The village of Sinnington has faced bad flooding over the last few decades and to combat them dams were constructed as part of the Forestry Commissions Slow the Flow project. A loss of funding left no money for maintenance.

So the Forestry England had the idea of using beavers. Two beavers were brought in from Scotland but rather than maintaining the man-made dams they ignored them.

Forestry England ecologist Cath Bashforth said. “They built their own structures above and below our structures, they don’t think much of ours.”

The dam has been built by the beavers in the three stages over the last four years and there a now a total of five dams built along Sutherland Beck.

It is hard to estimate the impact of these dams on flooding, but it is known that dams reduce the speed of flow which reduces the risk of flooding.

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