The beaver deceiver Penz and Ricci built Tuesday aims to be a more permanent solution. The contraption pipes water through the center of the dam — tricking the beavers so water keeps flowing even as they continue to build the dam higher.

“Public works, they’re happy to have the beavers as long as they don’t do damage,” Penz said. “There are a lot of beavers in Summit County. So if they trapped them out of a given pond, there will be more back in a year or two. It isn’t a long-term solution to trap them. It isn’t a long-term solution to keep ripping the dam apart.”

Colorado is home to a robust beaver population. The rodents are habitat engineers, cutting aspens, willows and other trees, and their dams slow water, which recharges groundwater, reduces erosion, provides a barrier to wildfires and provides other ecological benefits, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. But those dam-building skills can also cause conflicts with humans, blocking culverts and flooding roads and other property.

For the past five years or so, Frisco has not been trapping and relocating beavers but instead has been working to coexist happily with the creatures, Johnsen said. The grounds foreman said he has forged something of a friendship with Penz and Ricci while they have helped deal with the beaver community over the years.