The dam project, drafted in 2018 and based on a former military training site south of Prague, had been delayed by land negotiations. Local beavers built several dams, saving the government more than one million euros.

For years, authorities debated building a barrier to protect the Klabava River, south of Prague, from sediment and acidic water spilling from nearby ponds. A dam would have solved the problem, but the project stalled due to financial and bureaucratic problems since 2018.

Beavers have saved Czech taxpayers a cool $1 million by flooding a protected former army training site where a long-stalled dam was planned, a conservation official said on Tuesday. Among nature's great engineers,

The beavers chose to build their dam in a drainage canal created by the military on a former training ground in the Brdy region. This area had been causing headaches for local environmentalists due to its artificial drainage system,

Despite a seven-year planning process and successfully securing the funding, the Czech Republic’s plans to build a new dam in the Brdy region came to a standstill as authorities struggled to acquire building permits. However, it was the arrival of eight hard-working beavers that finally got the job done.

What happens when an infrastructure project is stalled for more than seven years? In most countries, the project may have been shelved but the beavers in the Brdy region of the Czech Republic had different ideas -- one which has helped the authorities save over Rs 10 crore in expense.

A beaver colony has just saved officials in the Czech Republic $1.2 million – which is over R22 million – by building a dam that would have taken the government seven years.

Beavers in the Czech Republic ignored construction permits and completed a stalled dam project, much to the delight of officials.