As floods get worse, Britain tries a new solution: beavers

West London’s Greenford Tube station previously flooded during heavy rain, with sandbags still lining the corridor. In October 2023, a family of beavers was resettled in a nearby 20-acre urban park to help Britain adapt to climate change. Heavier and more erratic rainfall has increased flooding in places that previously did not flood. Conservationists obtained a government license to move five beavers into the park, formerly a golf course with a creek. Within weeks, the beavers dammed the creek to form a pond that prevents water from spilling into the city. They also diverted flow into smaller tributaries, creating a wetland that absorbs rainfall and reduces downstream flood risk. The beavers also supported the return of other species.

"Until two years ago, West London's Greenford Tube station used to flood whenever it rained heavily. The train tracks are aboveground, but the ticket office would often get inundated. Sandbags still line the corridor. But in October 2023, a new family moved in nearby, determined to halt the water. The family members built their house from scratch with local wood and kept odd hours, sleeping all day and working only at dawn and dusk. They even put their young children to work."

"Britain is famous for drizzle, but climate change is making rainfall heavier and more erratic. Places that didn't used to flood are now waterlogged. So scientists have enlisted some of the animal kingdom's best flood engineers — beavers — to help. In West London, conservationists got a government license to resettle a family of five beavers in a 20-acre urban park near the Greenford Tube station."

"It used to be a golf course, with a creek running through it. Within weeks, the beavers dammed up the creek, creating a pond that holds water and stops it from spilling into the city. They also diverted the creek's flow into smaller tributaries, creating a wetland that better absorbs heavy rainfall — mitigating the risk of flooding downstream."

""They effectively turned this site into a giant sponge that can take heavy rainfall and slowly release water back into the landscape, creating a lot more resilience for flooding," explains Sean McCormack, a local veterinarian who started the Ealing Beaver Project, named for the London borough of Ealing, where it's located. Not only has the local Tube station stopped flooding, but the beavers have also coaxed back other species."

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