Ontario family gutted after decades-old beaver dam breaks, draining massive pond on property

An Ontario family is 'gutted' after their Apsley, Ont. property -- once a pristine wetland -- was seemingly suddenly drained. (Courtesy of Lorraine Fuller)

When Lorraine Fuller and her husband bought their Apsley, Ont. property over 15 years ago, it was brimming with wildlife thanks to the wetland that made up their backyard. But seemingly overnight, the pond was drained with no animal in sight.

Over the years they have owned this vacation home, located about 45 minutes north of Peterborough, Fuller said she has seen blue herons, a variety of ducks, turtles, otters, frogs, salamanders, and beavers.

Since it’s a 100-acre lot, Fuller said they bought an amphibious vehicle that could take them from one side of the property to the other out on the water. She adds they also recently built a bunkie in November – which set them back about $75,000 – at the top of the property overlooking the wetland.

“Here we are now in April, and it’s gone,” Fuller said. “The property, like, it’s gone.”

The family frequently uses the Apsley property all throughout the year, Fuller says, and adds they hadn’t noticed anything unusual over the winter.

About two weeks ago, on April 8, Fuller said her husband thought he noticed the water level looked extremely low, but adds the half-inch of snow and ice likely hid everything – so they left without investigating.

“We went up on the 22nd of April to discover no water, or something that appeared to look like a moon surface,” Fuller said, adding she felt “absolutely gutted.”

“After I looked at the pond, I couldn’t even go near it [...] I thought it was, you know, you woke up on Sunday morning, look out the window thinking it was a bad dream and it was still there.”

The formerly pristine wetland was held intact by a massive beaver dam on a neighbouring property that was constructed decades ago, according to Fuller – even long before she and her husband bought the property.

“It’s probably been the better part of 100 years that created this pond, so the actual dam that was compromised is huge,” she said, adding the dam was around six to eight feet high.

Now, it looks like about a six-foot chunk was taken out of that dam, Fuller said.

“There’s a little waterfall that’s emptied out the entire pond, and it’s still flowing today because there was quite a bit of water in that pond.”

How the dam was destroyed remains a mystery to Fuller.

“It’s very clearly been broken, but I don’t know how it was broken,” she said. “The forces of nature can be very, very strong [...] So was it ice and water? Was it someone who did it? Was it the forces of nature? I don’t know.”

But, Fuller is in the process of trying to figure out what exactly happened and to try and get it rebuilt as soon as possible, adding she has reached out to the municipality, Conservations Authority and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. She also plans to contact her neighbour to see what they know about what happened.

A spokesperson for the Conservation Authority in Crowe Valley (CVCA) told CTV News Toronto it is “difficult” to answer how they can investigate the cause of the damage, since the beaver dam could have failed due to natural occurrences or human intervention.

“I believe a biologist would be the best expert to make that determination. If it is deemed to have resulted from human activity, there is a possibility the CVCA could investigate with a follow-up site visit,” general manager Tim Pidduck said in a statement.

“However, that is complicated since there would potentially be limited access to the site if the landowner does not allow us onto the property. If this is the case, we would require a warrant to investigate what we would consider a violation of our regulation (Ont. Reg. 159/06). As well, there seems to be very little, if any, proof as to who would have potentially caused the dam to fail.”

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry confirmed to CTV News Toronto in an emailed statement Wednesday that the landowner believes the pond was drained due to a beaver dam failure.

Pidduck explained beaver dams are typically built to ensure a food supply and offer enough water to protect its home from potential predators, but over time the beaver will abandon its home once the food supply has been exhausted – or the beaver dies.

If another beaver doesn’t take over the dam, it will be without maintenance, so it will degrade and eventually collapse, prompting the water to spill out.

“Of course, once the pond is drained, the area looks devastated and all of the flora and fauna that was dependent on the pond is now without a ‘home,’” Pidduck said. “Nature will jump into action though and the pond will turn into a beaver meadow as plants, grasses, small trees start to sprout and regenerate the area.”

As soon as that happens, another beaver looking to build the dam will hear the sound of running water and move in and start the cycle all over again.

But, Pidduck notes there are a number of contributing factors – like the weather, size of the stream, beaver population in the area – that come into play that could restart the cycle in either short period of time or perhaps even decades.

Fuller hopes to renew the land as soon as possible – “but I think my soon as possible is going to be years and years in the making.”

The ministry says its staff are working with Fuller to help guide her on the appropriate next steps.