Alhambra Creek: Difference between revisions
Corrected wikilink to Thomas Jefferson Farnham and added url to google books reference |
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'''Alhambra Creek''' is a stream in [[Contra Costa County, California]] which drains into the [[Carquinez Strait]] by way of the Arroyo del Hambre. It descends through the [[Briones Valley]] to the city of [[Martinez, California|Martinez]]. |
'''Alhambra Creek''' is a stream in [[Contra Costa County, California]] which drains into the [[Carquinez Strait]] by way of the Arroyo del Hambre. It descends through the [[Briones Valley]] to the city of [[Martinez, California|Martinez]]. |
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[[Image:American Beaver.jpg|thumb|[[North American Beaver]] ("Castor canadensis")|left]] |
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In 2006, a male and female beaver arrived in Alhambra Creek in downtown [[Martinez, California]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Moment of truth for Martinez beavers |author=Carolyn Jones |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |url= |date=April 16, 2008 |accessdate=Nov. 6, 2009 }}</ref> The beavers built a dam 30 feet wide and at one time 6 feet high, and chewed through half the willows and other creekside landscaping the city planted as part of its $9.7 million 1999 flood-improvement project. When the City Council wanted to remove the beavers because of fears of flooding, local residents organized to protect them, forming an organization called "Worth a Dam".<ref>{{cite web |title=Worth a Dam website|url=http://www.martinezbeavers.org }}</ref> Resolution included installing a pipe through the beaver dam so that the pond's water level could not become excessive. Now protected, the beaver have transformed Alhambra Creek from a trickle into multiple dams and beaver ponds, which in turn, lead to the return of steelhead trout and river otter in 2008, and mink in 2009.<ref>{{cite web |title=Martinez Beavers |author=Aleta George |url=http://baynature.org/articles/jan-mar-2008/ear-to-the-ground/martinez-beavers |date=2008 |magazine=Bay Nature |publisher=Bay Nature Institute |accessdate=Nov. 6, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Beavers and More in Martinez:New Habitat Thanks to Beavers |author=Nicola DeRobertis-Theye |url=http://baynature.org/articles/web-only-articles/beavers-and-more-in-martinez |magazine=Bay Nature |publisher=Bay Nature Institute |accessdate=Nov. 6, 2009 }}</ref> The Martinez beavers probably originated from the [[Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta]] which once held the largest concentration of beaver in North America.<ref>{{cite book |title=Life, adventures, and travels in California |author=[[Thomas Jefferson Farnham]] |page=383 |publisher=Blakeman & Co. |year=1857 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=cwMNAAAAIAAJ&dq=travels+in+california+farnham&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=SdRWTbf-Pd&sig=MjCsrczlM3u6afZyHz-M1tP7M7s&hl=en&ei=Tez0SsHpIIXuswPf4bQG&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=beaver&f=false }}</ref> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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*[[Martinez beavers]] |
*[[Martinez beavers]] |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
{{reflist}} |
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Revision as of 18:24, 7 November 2009
Alhambra Creek is a stream in Contra Costa County, California which drains into the Carquinez Strait by way of the Arroyo del Hambre. It descends through the Briones Valley to the city of Martinez.
In 2006, a male and female beaver arrived in Alhambra Creek in downtown Martinez, California.[1] The beavers built a dam 30 feet wide and at one time 6 feet high, and chewed through half the willows and other creekside landscaping the city planted as part of its $9.7 million 1999 flood-improvement project. When the City Council wanted to remove the beavers because of fears of flooding, local residents organized to protect them, forming an organization called "Worth a Dam".[2] Resolution included installing a pipe through the beaver dam so that the pond's water level could not become excessive. Now protected, the beaver have transformed Alhambra Creek from a trickle into multiple dams and beaver ponds, which in turn, lead to the return of steelhead trout and river otter in 2008, and mink in 2009.[3][4] The Martinez beavers probably originated from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta which once held the largest concentration of beaver in North America.[5]
See also
References
- ^ Carolyn Jones (April 16, 2008). "Moment of truth for Martinez beavers". San Francisco Chronicle.
{{cite web}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Missing or empty|url=(help) - ^ "Worth a Dam website".
- ^ Aleta George (2008). "Martinez Beavers". Bay Nature. Bay Nature Institute. Retrieved Nov. 6, 2009.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ Nicola DeRobertis-Theye. "Beavers and More in Martinez:New Habitat Thanks to Beavers". Bay Nature. Bay Nature Institute. Retrieved Nov. 6, 2009.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ Thomas Jefferson Farnham (1857). Life, adventures, and travels in California. Blakeman & Co. p. 383.
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