Urbanization has well known quantifiable impacts on stream ecosystems including altered hydrology, increased nutrients, and decreased biodiversity. Stormwater ponds are widely used to mitigate these impacts by retaining urban runoff and promoting sedimentation and nutrient processing before slowly releasing the water back to the stream. Over time however, these ponds accumulate excess nitrogen and phosphorus leading to nuisance algal blooms that may need to be managed to maintain water quality. Beaver populations are increasing across the United States, including in cities, where they alter the landscape by increasing the number of ponds and wetlands in urban watersheds. These ponds also retain sediment and nutrients and can function as a natural solution for treating stormwater runoff. The overall goal of our research is to evaluate the role of beaver ecosystems on urban water quality and compare beaver and stormwater pond potential for eutrophication. We quantified nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), algal biomass and composition, and total suspended solids (TSS) in three beaver and three stormwater ponds in Charlotte, NC, USA. Nutrient and TSS concentrations of input water are similar across stormwater and beaver ponds. Pond and output water however, varies with pond type and constituent. TSS is higher in stormwater output water compared to beaver ponds. Total phosphorus is higher and nitrate is lower in beaver ponds compared to stormwater ponds. Algal biomass was higher in stormwater ponds, which also received more light and had higher temperatures, compared to beaver ponds. Overall desmids and blue-green algae were more common in stormwater ponds compared to beaver ponds. Overall beaver ponds can function as a natural solution and improve urban water quality; however, more work is needed to evaluate the role of larger urban beaver complexes (as opposed to single ponds) and to integrate these systems into watershed scale nutrient models.