Flood Patterns and Human Effects on the San Lorenzo River

Will Chapman, geomorphology PhD candidate at UCSC, speaks about historic flood patterns of the San Lorenzo River and the impacts of human land-use (i.e. logging) on the river system!
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[@thomash3292]

Will - something to also consider. Beaver were exterminated on the west coast in the mid-late 1800's. Beaver ponds would of course raise river levels, even in the summer, and then potentially and naturally be destroyed in flood event rains, only to be rebuilt again in the Spring. Since beaver on most (if not all) of the Santa Cruz rivers and creeks are gone, seems this would also be a significant detriment to the river, salmon, steelhead and other species and show areas of "incision" that are old. Couple that with the onslaught of logging it's a double whammy for the river and wildlife. Undoubtedly, logging would have also stripped beaver dams if any were left by then. Our problem presently is the greed Santa Cruz is filled with, taking all the water from the SLR in critical rearing months when the river is no longer a river anymore - all for the sake of building more and taking more water.